Gc
974.102
H15n
1136495
GENEALOGV COLLECnOK
OLD HALLOWELL ON THE KENNEBEC
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the Internet Archive
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OLD HALLOWELL 1
a i h £/
ON THE
KENNEBEC
BY
EMMA HUNTINGTON NASON
AUTHOR OF "WHITE SAILS," "THE TOWER WITH
L.iHj C.IN Ua AINU LiKiv^o, UL.L> CU J-.UIN 1 AJ-.
HOUSES IN MAINE," ETC.
1 1 1 u s tv dt e d
I
AUGUSTA, MAINE
1909
Copyright, igog
Emma Huntington Nason-
Press of
Burleigh & Flynt
Augusta, Me.
1136495
TO MY SON
ARTHUR HUNTINGTON NASON
THIS STORY
OF THE HOME OF HIS ANCESTORS
IS AFFECTIONATELY
DEDICATED
PREFACE
HE purpose of this volume is to tell the story of the old
town of Hallowell from the time of its earliest settle-
ment to its incorporation as a city in 1852, and to give
a picture of the life of the people at that period when
Hallowell was at the height of its commercial prosperity and
famous as a social and literary center. The book contains
biographical sketches of the eminent founders of the town, and
of the notable men and women who maintained its moral, intel-
lectual, and social status ; and also presents a record of those
institutions that contributed to the general upbuilding of the
community.
It has long been conceded, by recognized authorities, that
the early annals of Hallowell are of remarkable interest and of
unusual historic value. Therefore, with the hope that these veri-
table yet romantic records may appeal to the sons and daughters
of the Kennebec valley, wherever they may be, and also to the
general reader who would enjoy for a season the characteristic
atmosphere of an exceptionally favored old New England town,
this story, as illumined by the traditions of the fathers, is now
inscribed upon these pages.
To those loyal friends of Old Hallowell, to whom I am
indebted for the use of valuable family papers, manuscript
letters, copies of rare old portraits, and for most cordial encour-
agement in the making of the book, appreciative acknowledg-
ments are here gratefully rendered. To Miss Annie F. Page
and Miss Sophia B. Oilman, who have placed tjie resources of
the Hubbard Free Library and the^r own invaluable collections
of local historical matter at my disposal, and who have given me
their constant personal assistance in my researches, an expres-
sion of gratitude is here especially due. To all of those lovers
and friends of the old town from whom messages of enthusiastic
interest in my work have frequently been received, I this day
send out, with the story of Old Hallowell, thanks — and greeting!
E. H. N.
Augusta, Maine.
November 25, 1909.
I
ij
I;
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
PrEi^ace vii
Tabi,e of Contents ix
List of Ii,i,ustrations xi
HAi;i,owFi«iy, Prelude xiii
I. Ancient Koussinok i
II. The First Setti^ers 15
III. Men of the Fort and Hook 25
IV. Kvery-Day Life and Rei*igious Services of the
Period 40
V. The Division of the Town 55
VI. Sources of Hai,i,owei*i*'s Prosperity .... 67
VII. The Vaughan Famii^y 73
VIII. John Merrick, Esq 99
IX. Representative Famii^ies 107
X. The Lawyers of Hai,i,owei,i, 136
XI. Later Representative Famines 160
XII. The Oi,d South Church 193
XIII. The Hai,i.owei*i, Academy and Other Schooi^s . . 20&
XIV. The Libraries of Hai,i,owei.i, 229
XV. Oi,D Books and Newspapers . . . , . . 242
XVI. The Harmonic Society, tpe Theater, and the
Lyceum 259
XVII. SociAi. Life of Oi,d HAi^i^owEiyi, 265
XVIII. Romantic, Quaint, and Interesting Characters . 290
XIX. Hai.i,owei<i<'s ** Chief Citizens" 307
XX. Shipping and Ship-Masters of Hai,i.owei;i. . . 319
XXI. The Pubwc Interests of HAi^i^owEiyi, . . . 331
Index 347
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Hai^IvOwei,!. on the Kennebec * . . . Frontispiece
View From Powder House Hii,!, 15
The Oi,d Powder House * 18
O1.D Fort Western 25
Judge Daniei< Cony 28
Mrs. Susanna Curtis Cony 30
The Vaughan Brook 36
Ancient Boundary Line 55
The Pines on Ferry H11.1. 67
Samuei. Vaughan, Esq., and Famii^y 73
Mrs. Sarah Hai^i^owei^i. Vaughan 74
Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Vaughan 78
Dr. Benjamin Vaughan 80
Mrs. Sarah Manning Vaughan 82
Octagon Room in the Vaughan Mansion * 84
Chari^es Vaughan, Esq 94
Mrs. Frances Apthorp Vaughan 96
The Vaughan Memoriai. Bridge * 98
John Merrick, Esq .100
The Merrick Cottage, North and South View .... 104
From Drawings in Water-Color by John Vaughan Merrick
Henry Goodwin Vaughan, Esq 106
From Portrait by Charles Hopkinson
Mrs. Mary K11.TON Dummer and Judge NathanieIv Dummer . 108
Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Page 116
Residence of Rufus k. Page /. . .118
Residence of Preceptor Samuei. Moody * . . ^ . . .128
Captain John Agry ... 130
Mrs. EI/Izabeth Reed Agry 132
Captain George Agry 134
The PERI.EY House and the Agry House * 138
Judge Samuei, Sumner Wii^de 140
The Grant-Otis Mansion * . . 150
Judge Henry Knox Baker, . 157
xii List of Illustrations — Continued
Mrs. Sarah I,ord Baker 158
Judge Samuei. K. Gii,man 160
Hon. Simon Page 160
Residence oe Samueiv K. Gii^man 162
Deacon Kbenezer Doi^e 164
Oi,D Huntington House * 168
Miss Mary Thompson Wei^ch, (Mrs. Joseph F. NASon) . . 170
Residence oe Joseph Nason, Esq 172
Residence of Major Thomas M. Andrews 184
The Dummer Mansion * i86
Dr. M. C. Richardson 188
Mrs. Simon Page 190
The Oi,d South Church 193
Residence of Rev. Dr. Gmet * 196
Hai,i,oweIvI. Academy . . 208
The Hubbard Free IvIbrary 229
Mr. and Mrs. Chari^es Vaughan 236
Generai, Thomas H. Hubbard 238
Residence of Samuei, W. Huntington, Esq. .... 265
"Sunset Farm," Residence of Chari.es Vaughan, Esq. . . 272
From Drawings in Water-Color by John Vaughan Merrick
Miss Anne Warren's Banquet Tabi,e . . . • • .275
Hon. Reuei. Wii,i,iams 276
Mrs. Sarah Cony Wmiams 278
Octagon Room in Wi wams Mansion 280
Governor John Hubbard • • 307
Residence of Governor John Hubbard * 310
Captain John Hubbard 312
Governor Joseph R. BoDWEiyi, 315
Residence of Governor BodweI/I, * 3^6
Residence of Captain Chari^es Wei,i*s * 328
Bridge on the Vaughan Stream * 334
The Vaughan Mansion* 34*
* From photograph by F. Ernest Peacock.
HALLOWBIvI/
Prelude
The river with its ruffled blue
Divides the mighty hills in two,
Caresses many a dell.
Under a height that tosses back
The summer thunder from its track,
Lie home and Hallowell.
The sunrise sends its couriers down
To wake the quaint, embowered town;
A misty azure spell
At early even creeps to bridge
The depth beneath each rocky ridge
That watches Hallowell.
The world may smile — the world whose pain
Is measured by its golden gain ;
Our pine-sweet breezes swell
With something it hath never heard,
A benediction fills the word.
The name of Hallowell.
Content to miss the flash and whirl
We watch the breath of hearth-fires curl
With every mellow bell.
We note how fair the hours be,
Ivife hath a touch of Arcadie
In dreamy Hallowell.
Hope guards her dearest treasures here
The gate of heaven is alwaiys near
Where faith and duty dwell.
We learn to toil and look above,
To spell God's truth of light and love
In hill-bound Hallowell.
— Ellen Hamlin Butler
I
ANCIENT KOUSSINOK
N'kanayoo ! — Oi the Olden Time!
HE wise old Abenaki story-teller struck the keynote
of universal human interest when he began his
ancestral records with this expression : N'kanayoo!
— Of the Olden Time!
These words are fraught with significance. They appeal
to the human heart in all lands and in all ages of the world.
The love of the past and a desire to preserve the records of the
past are inherent in the human race. To transfer the story
of yesterday to some far-off to-morrov/ has ever been the mis-
sion of poet and historian ; and to begin at the beginning has
an irresistible charm. Therefore, in recalling the history of
Old Hallowell, our minds and hearts are lured back to the
"Olden Time " of the Abenaki story-teller ; and, with him, we
may very fitly say : N'kanayoo ! for our record must begin
with the days when the Abenaki Indian dwelt upon the banks
of the Kennebec.
The river shores, where Hallowell now stands, were once
the ancestral hunting grounds of the gentle Abenakis."
According to their traditions, these Men of the Dawn held
their patent directly from the hand of the Creator. The land
had been theirs from the beginning of the world ; and it is now
pleasant to believe that, from time immemorial, l|!earth-fires have
burned upon our shores ; that here old songs have been sung,
brave deeds recounted, and ancient traditions retold for
innumerable generations.
The banks of Bombahook were once a favorite camping-
ground of the Abenaki Indians ; the picturesque plateau, at the
southern end of the "Plains," was the place of many lodges;
and on the eastern shore of the river, in the northern portion
of the territory originally included in the town of Hallowell,
2
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
there was a large and permanent Abenaki village. With the
early records of these Indian domains, the story of the first
settlement of Old Hallowell is inextricably interwoven ; and if
we would understand the history of our native town, we must
go back to the days when the men of Plymouth dwelt here side
by side with the Indians of Koussinok.
As we endeavor to recall this half -forgotten period, its
events unfold themselves before our eyes like the successive
scenes of a dimly-lighted, old-time panorama. We see first a
little white-sailed vessel appearing off the coast of Maine. It
is the shallop of the Pilgrim Fathers, built at Plymouth, and
commanded by Edward Winslow, who, with six of " ye old
standards," comes to trade with the Indians on the banks of
the Kennebec. These unskilled mariners boldly dare the
dangers of Seguin, cross the rippling bosom of Merrymeeting
Bay, sail on, past the island home of the old chief Kennebis,
past the Point of Bombahook, and follow the curving river
shore until they see the smoke of the Abenaki camp-fires, and
reach the Indian village.
It was in the autumn of the year 1625 that these brave
men of Plymouth set sail, with their shallop-load of corn, for this
hitherto unknown haven on the Kennebec. Their little craft,
built by the house carpenter of Plymouth, was not well fitted for
such a voyage. They had laid a litle deck over her mid-
ships," writes Governor Bradford, "to keepe y^ corne drie, but
y^ men were faine to stand it out all weathers without shelter,
and y* time of y^ year begins to growe tempestius. But God
preserved them and gave them good success, for they brought
home 700 lb. of beaver besids some other furrs, having litle or
nothing els but this corne which themselves had raised out of
y^ earth." '
In 1627, the Plymouth merchants, having procured a
patent for the Kennebec, " erected a house up above in y^ river
in y^ most convenientest place for trade, as they conceived, and
furnished the same with comodities for y* end, both winter &
somer, not only with corne, but also with such other commodities
^ Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, p. 247.
Ancient Koussinok
3
as fishermen had traded with them, as coats, shirts, ruggs, &
blankets, biskett, pease, prunes, Szc.; and what they could
not have out of England, they bought of the fishing ships,
and so carried on their bussines as well as they could." '
This story of the Pilgrim Fathers is one of the most
interesting and important in the early history of New England,
and yet it has lapsed into an almost legendary form, and to-day
many of the dwellers in the Kennebec valley are entirely
unaware that the famous men of Plymouth were ever sojourners
upon our shores. Nevertheless, it is true that more than a
hundred years before the erection of Fort Western there was
a flourishing trading-post in this locality, and here for nearly
forty years the Plymouth merchants lived side by side with the
Abenaki Indians and carried on a profitable trade with the
aboriginal inhabitants of Maine.
Considering the dependence of the Pilgrim Fathers upon
the resources of Maine, and the fact that they were saved
from financial ruin and enabled to pay their debt to the London
Company only by the profits of the valuable shipments of furs
from the Kennebec, it is surprising to learn how little the
historians of Plymouth have to say of the trading-post at
Koussinok and of the life and adventures of the men who
occupied it for so many years. The writings of Edward
Winslow, of Governor Bradford, and of other contemporary
authors contain but the briefest references to this subject. It
has even been intimated that the Pilgrim merchants were
purposely reticent in regard to their trading-post since they
did not wish to open to other colonists this very profitable
source of their own supplies. For this reaso)^, the materials
for the story of the first English settlers within the borders of
Old Hallowell are very meager ; and it is only in the records of
the early French voyagers, in the Relations of the Jesuits, and
in the works of other French authorities, that I have been able
to find any satisfactory original data for the story of ancient
Koussinok, and for the intercourse of the English with the
Indians of this village.
^ Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, p. 281.
4
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
The earliest mention that I find of the name Koussinok is
in the writings of the French priest, Father Gabriel Druillettes,
who, in 1652, states that the Abenakis have a village and
burying-ground where they meet every spring and fall "in
sight of the English who live at Koussinok." ' This, then, is
the beautiful old Indian word that was afterwards corrupted
into *'Cushnoc."
In regard to the meaning of the name Koussinok, authori-
ties widely differ. One writer, learned in Indian nomenclature,
states that it is a compound word meaning the place of the
sacred rites beside the rippling waters. This signification
seems very appropriate, for Koussinok was the place of the
sacred rites of the tribe, and was located near the rapids in the
river. But Maurault, in his Histoire des Abenakis, states that
the word Koussinok is equivalent to the French phrase, II y en
a heaucoMp ; and that the village was called Koussinok because
the English had greatly increased in numbers at this place.
Who all of these English people were that dwelt for a
whole generation upon our shores can not now be ascertained.
No full and consecutive history of the Plymouth settlement on
the Kennebec has ever been written ; but we know that some
of the ablest and best men in the colony were sent to take
charge of the trading-post, and this fact shows the importance
with which the place was at this time regarded.
One of the early agents in command of the trading-houses
was John Rowland, who, with his ''military turn" and adven-
turous spirit, was well fitted for the administration of the
business of the colony in this important location. He was,
moreover, one of the company responsible for the public debt
and therefore especially interested in the success of the
enterprise on the Kennebec.
In 1634, while Rowland was in command at Koussinok,
John Alden came from Plymouth to bring supplies for the
spring traffic with the Indians ; and Myles Standish, although
never in command, came frequently in the Plymouth shallop
on its business trips to the Kennebec. Governor Bradford,
I Relations of the Jesuits, Vol. 37, p. 254.
4
Ancient Koussinok
5
who was desirous of strengthening the Plymouth title to this
territory, is also said to have come in his official capacity to
treat with the Indians at this period.
One of Rowland's successors at the trading-post was
Captain Thomas Willett, a young man who had been a member
of the congregation at Leyden and who had followed the
Pilgrims to Plymouth in 1632. He was a very able and efficient
agent, and by his just and tactful dealings with the Indians, he
won their confidence and faithful service. Captain Willett
afterwards established an extensive trade with the Manhattan
Dutch; and later in life he was honored with the office of
Governor of New York.
Another notable commander of the Koussinok trading-
post was John Winslow, a brother of Governor Edward
Winslow. John Winslow came over in the Fortune, and was
one of the most efficient and highly esteemed men of the
colony. He was in command on the Kennebec from 1647 to
1652, and was for many years identified with the Indian trade,
through which he became one of the wealthiest men of
Plymouth.
In the year 1654, we find Captain Southworth occupying
the post as agent of the Plymouth Company. Southworth was
the son of Alice Southworth, the second wife of Governor
Bradford. ^' He was a man eminent for the soundness of his
mind and the purity of his heart." He spent three years in
this remote region and cheerfully bore the privations and
discomforts of the wilderness for the good of the colony and
the maintenance of the traffic with the Indians.
And Governor Thomas Prence — that dignified, stately
personage who had a countenance full of majesty and who is
said to have been a terror to evil-doers — he also came to the
Kennebec in 1654 and established some very wholesome laws
for the conduct of the settlers and their intercourse with the
native denizens of the forest.
In the year 1648, Natahanada, a sagamore of the Kennebec,
conveyed a large tract of land to William Bradford, Edward
Winslow, Thomas Prence, Thomas Willett, and William
6
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Paddy ; and a copy of the deed that was signed by Natahanada
may still be seen in the Register's Office of Lincoln County.
It is interesting to be assured that the Indian chieftain
received, in payment for this valuable tract of land, two hogs-
heads of provisions, one of bread, one of pease, two cloth coats,
two gallons of wine, and a bottle of strong waters.
A hundred years later, the Indians had grown wiser and
refused to acknowledge the claims of the English either by
deed or by right of possession. In 1725, the Abenaki chieftains
declared to the English : We were in possession before you,
for we have held the land from time immemorial. The lands
we possess were given to us by the Great Master of Life. We
acknowledge only from him." Again in 1744, when Governor
Shirley exhibited the deed signed by the Indians as a proof
of his claim to the territory, the aged chieftain, Ongewasgane,
replied, I am an old man, yet I never heard my ancestors say
that these lands were sold." '
It is now well understood that by thus deeding their lands,
these Indians had no idea of any legal transference of their
territory, but were merely granting to the white men the
right to hunt and fish in common with themselves.
These occasional glimpses into the life and character of the
Abenaki Indian stimulate our desire to know more of this
remarkable tribe that the Plymouth men found in possession of
the valley of the Kennebec ; and a study of the customs and
traditions of this ancient people reveals much of interest and of
ethnological value. At the time when the Plymouth merchants
were stationed in this locality, there was at Koussinok a large
Indian village of five hundred inhabitants, including the women
and the children. This primitive people had a wonderful and
musical language. They had a system of writing and of com-
munication with other and distant tribes. They possessed an
inherited store of legends and folk-tales that were truly
remarkable. They lived by hunting, fishing, and tilling the
soil. They were peaceful, hospitable, and generous ; and it is
conceded by all authorities that the sentiments of the
^ Abbott's History of Maine, p. 352.
Ancient Koussinok
7
Abenakis and their principles of justice had no parallel among
other tribes."
These Indians, according to their own traditions and the
common consent of the tribes around them, were an aboriginal
people. They claimed that they were the first and only perfect
creation of the Great Spirit, that after them, the Indian was of
an inferior quality. They were destined from the primal order
of the universe to be nature's aristocracy ; and, in comparing
them with other Indians, this claim seems to have been very
well founded.
One example of magnanimity and nobility of character was
furnished by the Kennebec chieftain Assiminasqua. On
several occasions when the Kennebec Indians had sent messen-
gers to treat with the English on the coast, the latter had
taken them prisoners and deprived them of their arms ; but
when the English came to make a treaty at Ticonic, and might
easily have been captured by the Indians, Assiminasqua
scorned to do so treacherous a deed. ''It is not our custom,"
he said, ''when messengers come to treat of peace, to seize
upon their persons and make them prisoners. Keep your
arms ! You are at liberty ! With us it is a point of honor." ^
An illustration of the loyalty of these Indians among
themselves may be found in the very interesting custom of
choosing the Nidoba. Every young brave, on arriving at the
age when he began to hunt and fish for himself, chose a friend
of his own age whom he called his " Nidoba," — a name which
signified a comrade faithful until death. These two young
braves united themselves by a mutual bond to dare all dangers
in order to assist each other as long as they both should live.
Thus every Abenaki man had at least one ttue friend ever
ready to give his life for him ; and these two faithful comrades
believed that after death they would be reunited in the Happy
Hunting Grounds. ^
The native characteristics of the Kennebec Indians were
most apparent at the great councils which were held at
1 Abbott's History of Maine, p. 185.
2 Maurault's Hisioire des Abenakis, p. 16.
8
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Koussinok twice a year, — one in the autumn before going on
the great hunt to the " Lake of the Moose," and the other in
the spring when the braves returned laden with their trophies.
Then the council fires were lighted around the great stone
hearths, and here were performed all the sacred rites and
ceremonies of the tribe.
At these celebrations there was dancing and feasting ;
and the young men, who were enthusiastic athletes, indulged
in spirited contests of ball-playing, wrestling, running, and
leaping.
I recall one old Indian story of a running match in which
the contestants were required to give their names on entering
the lists. The first runner announced that he was ''Northern
Lights." The second said that he was '' Chain Lightning."
It is needless to add that " Chain Lightning" won the race.
The children also had many pretty games which had been
played by their ancestors for many generations. One of these
games consisted of hiding a large ring in the sand and attempt-
ing to find it and draw it out on the end of a long pointed
stick. Another game which the Indian girls played is very
interesting because it so closely resembles the ancient English
game of "Old Witch," sometimes known as ''Hawk and
Chickens." And curiously enough, this Indian game, like the
old English play, was preceded by a counting-out jingle; only
instead of saying, " Eny, meny, mony, mi," as the children of
Old Hallowell used to do, the little Abenaki girls said, " Hony,
keebe, laweis, agles, huntip I " and whoever was left, after all
the rest were counted out, had to be the " old Swamp Woman."
The Abenaki women were comely and attractive in appear-
ance. Their feminine taste found expression in a great variety
of ornaments including rings, necklaces, and bracelets made of
shells and wrought with great skill. Sometimes the Abenaki
bride made for her lover chieftain a belt with a fringe of
wampum a foot in depth and containing many thousands of
pieces. The Abenaki w^omen also made many tasteful house-
hold articles out of plaited rushes and birch bark. They had
developed a rude art of pottery. They understood the secrets
Ancient Koussinok
9
of coloring ; and artistic rugs and portieres were not unknown
to the primitive women of the Kennebec. But while indulging
in these accomplishments, the Abenaki women were also
expected to plant and hoe the corn, to dress the skins of the
hunter's trophies, and to do all the menial work of the settle-
ment. They were, however, always treated with respect by
t-he Abenaki men.
Among the chief characteristics recorded of the Abenaki
men and women were their intense affection for their children,
their veneration for their ancestors, and their love for their
native woods and waters. Every boy born to the Abenaki
mother was taught the origin and traditions of his race, and
was ready to die for the rights inherited from his fathers.
These traditions were constantly repeated around the camp-
fires and instilled into the minds of the children by the songs
of the Indian mothers.
It is difficult for us now to invest this ancient people with
the ingenuous characteristics and the poetic imagination which
their records and folk-lore prove that they once possessed ;
and I cannot better describe the thought and feeling of
the Indian mother and her belief in the birthright and the
future of her baby chieftain than by a few verses entitled
Sleep in thy birchen cradle, sleep !
For the planting time is here ;
The little gray mice through the stubble creep ;
And the leaves that down through the branches peep
Are as big as the mouse's ear. ,
Sleep, where the pine its shadow throws, /
And the Koonabecki flows and flows.
Sleep, sleep, for the crow is near !
'Twas he who brought the grain
From the far southwest, o'er the valleys drear,
And the women must watch and work in fear.
Lest he snatch it back again.
Watch and work while the seedlet grows.
And the Koonabecki flows and flows.
AN ABENAKI LULLABY
10
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Hush ! hush ! for the gray wolf cries ! —
A mighty hunter soon,
Thou shalt chase the deer with the starry eyes,
And follow the stream where the salmon rise.
In a boat that is like the moon.
Soft like the curved white moon it goes.
Where the Koonabecki flows and flows.
Sleep, little chief of a chieftain born !
Old as the sun thy sires ;
They sprang to life at the world's first morn ;
Their torches, lit at the ruddy dawn,
Kindled the council fires.
To burn as long as the morning glows,
While the Koonabecki flows and flows.
Wake, wake, little chieftain, wake !
Thine are the eastern lands ;
For thee did the good Great Spirit make
Forest, and hill, and stream, and lake.
And the river's shining strands.
Thine they are while the east wind blows.
And the Long- I,and- Water flows and flows.
These ingenuous and tractable Indians of the Kennebec were
converted to Christianity under the ministrations of the Jesuit
priest, Father Gabriel Druillettes, who here founded the
Mission of the Assumption in 1648.
Father Druillettes was an educated and cultured French-
man who had left a home of luxury in Europe to spend a life of
suffering and self-denial in the wilderness of the New World.
He became the warm friend of John Winslow and was often
entertained at the board of the Plymouth merchant at the
trading-post. Father Druillettes also visited the colonies at
Boston and Plymouth where, notwithstanding the death-law
against the Jesuits, he was courteously received as the
accredited envoy of the French government at Canada.
It was by the Indians' own request that Father Druillettes
came as a missionary to Koussinok. He was loved and
reverenced by these children of the forest. They begged him
never to leave them. They built for him a pretty chapel.
Ancient Koussinok
ir
They gave him their best canoe, but would not permit him to
paddle. Pray for us and we will row for you," they said.
When Father Druillettes proposed to them as a condition of
baptism that they should give up their intoxicating drinks which
they had received from the English, that they should destroy
their medicine bags and other objects of sorcery, and strive to
live in peace with all the other tribes, they readily consented to
do so. Father Druillettes thus acquired a great influence over
his Indian wards.
Such were the peaceful, hospitable, and interesting people
whom the early voyagers called the "gentle Abenakis." Here
the men of Plymouth found them living their simple, primitive
lives, and believing in the future destiny of their race without a
shadow of the fate that was so soon to befall them. But all
these things apparently made no impression on the minds of
our revered Pilgrim Fathers. They came to these newly
discovered shores where the air was scintillant with local color
and where the wigwams were just overflowing with material
available for the folk-lore student, and yet they have left us no
record of it whatever.
Happily we now know from the fragments of Abenaki
folk-lore that have been preserved to us by the last remnants
of the ancient tribes, what a wealth of legend and tradition
these Indians once possessed ; and if these scanty fragments of
song and story are so wonderful, we can imagine what the
folk-lore of these first dwellers on our shores must have been
in the palmy days of their tribal existence when every genera-
tion had its poet and story-teller and the Men of the Dawn
retold all that their sires had taught them from^' the beginning
of the world.
The ancestral hunting grounds of the Abenakis on the
shores of the Kennebec inevitably fell into the possession of
the Plymouth company. This company based its legal claim
to the territory on the patent granted by the Plymouth Council
of England to the Plymouth Colony in 1629. This patent
included a strip of land fifteen miles in width on each side of
the Kennebec extending from a line south of Swan Island to a.
12
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
line a league above the Wesserunsett river, with the exclusive
rights of trade within these limits, and with an open passage-
way to the sea. For nearly forty years the Plymouth Colony
maintained its trading-post on the Kennebec; but when the
business declined and profits no longer flowed into their treas-
ury, they sold the patent, for four hundred pounds, to John
Winslow, Thomas Brattle, Atipas Boies, and Edward Tyng.
This transfer of the patent was made in 1661 ; and a few
years later the trading-post was abandoned by its owners.
This, it must be remembered, was some years before the
outbreak of King Philip's war of 1675, in which the Kennebec
Indians were the last to become involved. Then followed the
long century of cruel and devastating warfare ; and at its close,
the few Indians that remained of the once flourishing tribe on
the Kennebec migrated by way of the old Chaudiere trail
to Canada where they joined the St. Francis tribe of Indians.
The Plymouth trading-post, long forgotten, fell into decay.
The picturesque Abenaki village and the little chapel of the
Assumption soon disappeared from the shore of the Kennebec;
and a luxuriant forest growth obliterated all traces of ancient
Koussinok.
Nevertheless, the men of Plymouth had builded more
wisely and laid their foundations within our borders more
deeply than they ever knew. They opened the forest to civili-
zation. They established their title to the Kennebec patent and
bequeathed their rights to their successors. The land lay
dormant for almost a hundred years ; but the seed of a city had
been planted and was destined to spring up and bring forth
fruit after many days. The descendants of the men who pur-
chased the property in 1661 did not forget their valuable
inheritance; and, on the 21st of September, 1749, the heirs of
the Kennebec proprietors met to devise means of opening the
land to settlers. An organization was formed under the name
of the Kennebec or Plymouth Company ; and from these
Kennebec proprietors the settlers of Old Hallowell received the
title to their estates. Their rights inalienable have come down
to the present day.
Ancient Koussinok
13
The Pilgrim Fathers may thus be regarded as the pioneer
openers of this portion of the Kennebec valley ; and the people
of Old Hallowell, in tracing the origin of their ancestral homes,
must go back, through the mists of the past, to the romantic
yet veritable records of ancient Koussinok.
The original name of this early settlement should always
be preserved, for the word is replete with historic associations
and alive with local light and color. It brings before our
minds a series of pictures, in which the elements of adventure,
hardship, bravery, valor, and romance are mingled. We see the
hospitable Abenaki lodges, where a mat for the stranger is
always laid. We see the smouldering fires, and the vaguely
flitting forms of women and little children. Somewhat apart
from the village, in its consecrated space, stands the chapel
of the Assumption, with its walls of white birch bark, and
its altar lighted by tall candles made from the wax of the bay-
berries gathered on the coast. Great pine knots blaze on the
round stone hearths where the chieftains meet in council ; and
in the fitful glare of the firelight sits the tribal story-teller re-
peating the traditions of long ago when the Abenaki men
lived in "the early red morning before the sunrise." Perchance
his story is a poetic nature-myth of the wooing of the summer,
or an amusing tale of the tricksy mischief-maker who ran about
among the wigwams stirring up all sorts of trouble; or the
pretty bit of folk-lore telling of the little "Burnt-Faced Girl,"
who, like a veritable Cinderella, crept out from the ashes of her
chimney-corner to become the bride of the tallest, handsomest
young chieftain in the village; or, most wonderful of all, the
legend of the terrible monster, whose "heart of ice " was melted
by a woman's tender touch, and whose ferocious nature was trans-
formed by the ministrations of human sympathy, — a legend
which seems to indicate that even these "Men of the Dawn"
had some conception of the old, continual strife between good
and evil in the human soul.
Near by, upon the river-shore, stand the log-cabins of the
Pilgrim trading-post, rude, but commodious and substantial.
A great fire roars in the huge stone chimney-place. The walls
14
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
are hung with scarlet blankets, shining trinkets, and the sharp-
bladed knives coveted by the Indian men and boys; and the
great bins are laden with supplies for traffic with the Indian
hunters. Here, to and fro, with stately tread, move the
Plymouth merchants, insistent, stern, and realistic.
Koussinok! The word may be, at times, picturesque,
severe, unreal, vivid, pathetic, or grimly ^tragic, but it is
always suggestively historic; and, to-day, although the ancient
trading-post and the Abenaki village have disappeared, al-
though Pilgrim Fathers come no more, and only the wraiths
of Indian chieftains, in the ghosts of white canoes, glide up and
down the river, their story is still recalled by this old Abenaki
name; and, with the name, the memories of ancient Koussinok
will long abide upon the borders of the Kennebec.
II
THE FIRST SETTLERS
"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places." — Psalms xvi : 6.
^^■rHERE is no more beautiful view on the shores of the
/ 'I Kennebec river than that from the top of Powder
^F^^ House hill in Hallowell. Standing where its gray
granite ledges creep out amidst the grasses which are
fringed, in early summer, with tilting scarlet columbine, or,
later in the season, with graceful tufts of golden-rod, one looks
upon a picture of unusual charm and beauty. To the north,
like a giant sentinel, rises the bold wooded crest of Howard
hill. To the south lies the Cascade pond, glistening in the
sunlight, and sending its waters eastward, over the cascades
and rapids of the Vaughan stream, to meet the blue waves of
the Kennebec. Before us rise the church spires amidst tall
elms and maples ; and, below, at the feet of the ancient town,
the river — the "Long-Land-Water" — as the Indians fittingly
named it, flows majestically on past its old moss-grown wharves
and grassy islands, and then sweeps around in a picturesque
curve and follows its course to the sea.
Close behind us, founded on the immovable rocks, is that
time-honored landmark, the old brick powder house, with its
one mysterious door barred with iron and carved with the
monograms, initials, and cabalistic signs that register the
visitors of a century. " Over the river," as we always said in
our childhood, the banks of Chelsea Heights rise steeply from
the water's edge. Away at the north, the chimneys and turrets
of the gray stone hospital emerge above the trees suggestive of
some old English castle ; and thence the undulating hills sweep
on until lost in the mists of the horizon.
Every son and daughter of Hallowell knows this picture of
the fair olden city on the river's shore." We see it in our
1 6 Old Hallow ell on the Kennebec
dreams, and with closed eyelids in our waking hours ; and
to-day, as we turn our thoughts backward to the founding of
Hallowell a century and a half ago, it is difficult to shut out
the familiar scene and recall the time when these shores of the
Kennebec were an unbroken forest.
Even at this early period, however, the place must have
seemed to the " first comers " an ideal location for a town ; and
its natural advantages were at once apparent to the early
settlers on the Kennebec. The shores of the river valley from
the time of the Pilgrim traders had been known for their
fertility and natural productiveness ; the waters of the river
were filled with salmon and other delicious fish; the water-
power of the stream that here dashed wildly down through the
forest was a guarantee for future sawmills and other necessary
manufactories. Here was the head of the tide and "of a broad
waterway for the ships from the sea. Moreover, at this
period, the Kennebec was regarded as the natural outlet of
Canada, and visions of the time when there should be a grand
inland route of traffic and travel from Montreal and Quebec,
via the Kennebec, to the sea, had always had a prominent
part in the plans of the promoters of the river settlements.
For these reasons, a town well located in this vicinity
might confidently look forward to a permanent and ever increas-
ing prosperity. Accordingly, at the close of the French and
Indian wars, when peace and security became assured, the
Plymouth proprietors on the Kennebec offered their lands for
sale on the most liberal terms in order to induce settlers to
come to this region.
In the year 1754, Fort Western was erected on the east
bank of the Kennebec, and garrisoned with twenty men under
the command of Captain James Howard. Around the fort a
few small log houses were soon built, but until the year 1762,
which must ever stand prominent in our local history, no
dwelling of any sort existed within what are now the limits of
Hallowell.
It was on the third of May of this momentous year, 1762,
that Deacon Pease Clark and his wife, with their son, Peter
The First Settlers
17
Clark, and his wife and one little child, landed upon the shore
of the Kennebec and made a path for themselves to the spot
where the old cotton factory now stands in Hallowell. No
hearth fire burned for their welcome ; no door opened at their
coming; no home stood ready to receive them. And so the
intrepid Pease Clark and his son Peter took the one rude cart
which they had brought with them and turned it bottom up-
wards. Then, with their brave wives and the one little child,
they crept under it and passed the night. In the morning
they arose and began the settlement of Hallowell.
The Clarks had evidently not come to this new country
entirely ignorant of its location and requirements. According
to family tradition, Peter Clark, the son of Pease Clark, had
been a lieutenant in charge of a company of sixty soldiers,
probably a part of Gen. Shirley's force, sent to guard the
workmen who built Fort Western in 1754. Peter Clark, being
pleased with the country and the terms offered to settlers, first
induced his father to make a prospecting trip to the Kennebec
valley, after which, they both decided to establish a home here
for themselves and their families. Pease Clark secured a grant
of land of one hundred acres, fifty rods wide and one mile long
extending through what is now the central part of Hallowell.
His son Peter was granted an adjoining lot at the south.
The first efforts of the Clarks were devoted to making a
small clearing and to the erection of a temporary dwelling.
They then planted corn and rye upon the burnt land. Before
the snows of the following winter fell, these energetic first
settlers had hewn timber, procured boards and pl/anks from the
mill at Cobbossee, and built a comfortable fram4 house of two
stories in front and one at the rear, according to the fashion of
the times; and ever after that, the hospitable doors of the
Clark house stood open to welcome all newcomers to this
locality.
Probably no thought of founding a city, small or great,
entered into the heads of the Clarks at the time of their coming
to the Kennebec; but they unconsciously carried out the first
great fundamental principle of civic history, namely, that the
l8 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
establishment of the individual home is the true foundation of
the commonwealth. Pease Clark now rightfully bears the dis-
tinction of having been the father of the present city of
Hallowell; while to James Howard, the first settler at Fort
Western, is accorded the honor of having been the founder of
Augusta.
As we look back to the arrival of Pease Clark and his
family in this newly-opened country, we can easily imagine the
intense interest with which they regarded the other newcomers
who were destined to be their neighbors and fellow-townsmen ;
and our own interest is warmly excited in these first families of
old Hallowell. An old chart, made from Winslow's plan of
Cushnoc in 1761, gives us an excellent idea of the division of
the territory and the location of the new settlers. Fort
Western, occupied by Captain James Hov/ard and his family,
stood two miles above the Clarks' clearing and on the opposite
side of the river. Three sons of Pease Clark, who soon followed
their father to the Kennebec, settled above the fort. A fourth
brother, David Clark, received lot 1 5 on the west side of the
river, and a sister, the widow of Asa Fiske of Providence,
afterwards married to David Hancock, settled on lot 29 on the
west side. A nearer neighbor of the Clarks at the north was
Josiah French who kept an inn where is now the intersection
of Green and Grove streets in Augusta; Ephraim Cowan lived
on the lot where the State House now stands, and Samuel
Howard, whose estate included Howard Hill, located a little
farther to the south; but these lots were not within the
present hmits of Hallowell. Here the land was divided into
two large sections of 32,000 acres each, extending from the
river to Cobbossee Great Pond. Lot 23 was owned by Dr.
Sylvester Gardiner and lot 22, by Benjamin Hallowell. Out
of these large sections, Pease Clark and Peter Clark had
received adjoining corner lots bordering on the river. Their
nearest and only neighbors on the south were Jonathan and
Job Philbrook two miles below in the present town of Farming-
dale. With the exception of the Philbrooks, there were no
The First Settlers
19
other settlers on the west side of the Kennebec between the
Clarks and the Cobbossee stream in Gardiner.
On the east side of the river, near the southern boundary
Hne, was the lot of Samuel Bullen, who was prominent in the
records as town constable. Lot 7, on what is now the beautiful
**intervale," was granted to James Cocks (or Cox), of Boston.
Next, on the chart, we find the lots of Benjamin, Nathan,
and Daniel Davis. Jonathan Davenport, who is well remembered
as the first town clerk of Hallowell, settled on the adjoining
grant. Ezekiel Page and his son Ezekiel Junior received lots
19 and 21. Moses and Seth Greeley settled on what has in
recent years been known as the Arsenal lot. Daniel Hilton, a
young soldier, who enlisted under Captain Howard for service
at Fort Western, obtained lot 30. He afterwards sold this
land to Daniel Thomas, who kept the first tavern on the east
side of the river. Daniel and Edward Savage, two of the most
enterprising settlers of this period, received grants in 1768 and
1769; but they had been for some years previous at the Fort.
One of the most remarkable of these early settlers whose
name should also be preserved, was John Gilley. an Irishman
from Cork. He came to this country in 1755 and enlisted as a
soldier at Fort Western. He was at that time believed to be
seven or eight years older than Captain James Howard. He
attained an extraordinary longevity, and at his death, according
to the estimate of his contemporaries, he was one hundred and
twenty-four years of age. He enjoyed perfect health and was
active in mind and body long after his one hundredth birthday.
Judge Weston states that "the late Dr. Benjamin Vaughan of
Hallowell, was interested to make an exami^iation of John
Gilley, from which he became satisfied that his age was not
overstated." ^ Gilley married Dorcas Brown and had a large
family of children. His name was given to Gilley's Point a
locality famous as an ancient Indian burying-ground.
All of the above-mentioned men were located on the
Kennebec, in 1763, or earlier. They may be regarded as the
pioneer settlers of Hallowell. They were the brave souls who
* North's History of Augusta, p. 93.
20
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
ventured their all in a new and almost unknown country.
They cleared the forests, planted the cornfields, and literally
blazed the trail for future generations.
The every-day life of these pioneer settlers was marked,
even in the most prosperous families, by hardship, privation,
and self-sacrifice. The first sawmill within the limits of
ancient Hallowell, was built by James Howard on the Ellis
or Riggs brook, at some distance above Fort Western, about
1769. In 1772, William and Samuel Howard built another mill
on the same stream; and very soon afterwards, in 1773, a third
mill was erected by the Savage brothers. The nearest grist-
mill was at Gardinerstown, on the Cobbossee stream ; and all
the ''grist" was carried on the shoulders of the men over a
foot-path through the forest, or in boats down the Kennebec.
Even the inhabitants of Norridgewock and Canaan at this time,
brought all their corn down the river in canoes to the mill at
Cobbossee.
The settlers worked energetically and perseveringly, and
the land was soon cleared and cultivated to the distance of half
a mile from the river. In the adjoining forests, the bear still
ranged, and frequently made destructive raids on the cornfields
of the farmers. Terrifying rumors, and sometimes a glimpse
of wolves and the dread loup-cervier, often alarmed the men as
well as the women and children. The houses of the period,
with a few notable exceptions, were built of logs. Huge fire-
places, scantily supplied with cooking utensils, tested the
housewife's art, and doubtless at times sorely tried her
patience. As there were no roads, the social intercourse of the
people must have been very limited; and our sympathies con-
stantly revert to the women and children who naturally suffered
most from their isolated location, and restricted circumstances.
There was, moreover, for the first decade after the coming
of Pease Clark and his immediate followers, no opportunity for
religious service on the Sabbath. The people, consequently,
lacked both the social and religious uplift that comes from
laying aside the work-a-day cares of life and going in clean
attire and goodly company to the house of God. The C larks
The First Settlers
21
especially must have missed the privileges of the sanctuary, for
they had been prominent members of the first Congregational
church at Attleboro, Mass., where they worshiped under the
ministrations of Rev. Habijah Weld, a pastor '^distinguished
for his usefulness and highly respected both at home and
abroad." ^ That they thus felt the deprivation of the Sabbath
services is shown by the efforts made by Pease Clark to
establish religious worship at the new settlement on the
Kennebec. From the earliest town records, kept by Jonathan
Davenport, we learn that "at a meeting of the inhabitants of
Kennebec river, Cobbiseconte and upwards, held at the
house of Mr. Pease Clark, Feb. ist, 1763, articles of agreement
were entered into to procure preaching. A committee was
appointed to raise money for the purpose. The minister to
divide his time between Cobbiseconte and Fort Western, or
upwards as is most convenient."
The committee evidently made an effort to perform the
duties assigned to them, for in April, 1763, the first public
religious services were held at P'ort Western. They were con-
ducted by an Episcopal minister, the Rev. Jacob Bailey, from
Pownalborough.
With this exception, the efforts of the people to secure
preaching seem to have been without effect for we learn of no
more public religious services at Hallowell until 1773,
But notwithstanding all these disadvantages, the early
settlers were so inspired with hope, courage, and public spirit
that, in 1771, they appealed to the legislature for incorpo-
ration as a town. The act was passed April 26, 1771. The
new town contained ninety square miles of , territory and
included what is now Hallowell, Augusta, Chelsea, and the
greater part of Manchester and Farmingdale. At the time of
its incorporation it was represented by ninety-nine taxable
polls. The town was named Hallowell in honor of Mr.
Benjamin Hallowell, a wealthy Boston merchant, and one of
the Plymouth proprietors.
A town meeting, called by James Howard, was held at
» History of Attleboro.
22
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Fort Western, May 22, 1771, of which the following record was
duly made :
At a meeting of the Freeholders and other inhabitants of this town
att Fort western being the first Town Meeting after we ware Incor-
porated and the town made choice of Deacon peas Clark for the
Moderator and the following officers to serve the town for the year
Ensuing Viz. Jonathan Davenport Town Clerk Constable Samuel BuUen
Selectmen peas Clark James Howard Bsq & Jonathan Davenport Town
Treasurer James Howard Ksq — Wardens Samuel Howard & Samuel
Babcock — tythingmen Daniel Savage peter Hopkins— Deer Reeves
Jonathan Davenport & moses Greley — Fence Viewers — adam Carson
Benjamin White — Hog Reeves abijah Read Bbenezer Davenport &
Emerson Smith — surveyers of High ways Ezekiel page Peter Clark
peter Hopkins abisha Cowing & Daniel Cobb — surveyors of Boards
shingles and timber James Cocks Edward Savage — ^James Howard Esq
is appointed to provide a town Book at the town charge In order to
keep the town Records.
The above extract is copied from the Records of Hallowell^
No. I. p. I. It bears the date of May 22, 1771, and is the
first entry made after the incorporation of the town. The
record is inscribed in the hand writing of the first town clerk
of Hallowell, Mr. Jonathan Davenport. The writer is guiltless
of punctuation marks, save a few dashes, and is not always
consistent in his use of capitals; but his handwriting is excel-
lent, his spelling generally correct, — "peas" Clark being a
most delectable exception.
At the annual meeting in 1772, Captain James Cocks was
chosen moderator and Jonathan Davenport, clerk. The first
acts of the town provided for roads on each side of the river
from one end of the town to the other. Thirty-six pounds were
raised towards clearing the roads, and fifteen pounds for school-
ing and preaching. The selectmen were instructed to petition
the Plymouth proprietors for "a ministerial lot, also a lot for a
meeting-house and a training-field."
From this first list of town officers, we learn who were the
principal men of the settlement at the time of the incorporation
of the town in 1771. The names of these brave *'first settlers"
should have an honored place in the history of **01d Hallowell."
Their story is necessarily fragmentary, and can be gathered
The First Settlers
23
only bit by bit from the old records. Nevertheless, they were
very real characters, keenly alive in their day and generation;
and could we now call together that first town-meeting of
1 77 1, we should all, I think, without difficulty, recognize Pease
Clark, Moderator^ Jonathan Davenport, Town Clerk, James
Howard, Esq., Treasurer, and all the other old-time dignitaries
who, having endured the perils and hardships of "planting'*
the town in the primeval wilderness, were now rewarded by
public recognition and the emoluments of office.
The life-story of Pease Clark remains especially identified
with that part of Old Hallowell of which he was the first
settler ; and his name will long be remembered and honored in
the community which he founded. The early records show
that he was a man of ability, integrity, and public spirit. He
had a prominent part in public affairs at the time of the
incorporation of the town, and was zealous in his efforts for the
public welfare.
Deacon Pease Clark has been characterized as "a pious
man, just and honorable in his dealings." He erected his altar
in the wilderness and there dwelt, with his sons and daughters
around him, like a veritable patriarch of old. He lived to see
his home surrounded by other pleasant dwellings, with fruitful
gardens and orchards on the sloping hillsides; and his own
fertile fields became the inheritance of his descendants. He
was a worthy representative of that sturdy, indomitable class of
pioneers who, with faith in God and their fellow-men, cleared
the forests for the dwelling place of succeeding generations.
Pease Clark died in January, 1782. His life-work was
fittingly commemorated in a funeral sermon preached by the
Rev. Mr. Eaton of Winthrop, from the not inalppropriate text :
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree: and it shall be to
the Lord for a name that shall not be cut off.
In the old burying-ground in Hallowell, there is a large
table-shaped tomb, covered with moss and lichens, and yellowed
by the rain and sunshine of more than a hundred years. It
stands in a picturesque spot overlooking the blue water-course
24 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
of the Kennebec and the curving river shore shut in and
sheltered by the point of Bombahook. This was the fair
domain chosen by Hallowell's first settler for his home ; and it
is fitting that Deacon Pease Clark, whose name is carven on
this ancient tomb, should here rest beside the Kennebec.
Another most worthy monument to the memory of Deacon
Pease Clark is the Hallowell City Building. This noble
memorial edifice was erected by Mrs. Eliza Clark Lowell, in
honor of her revered ancestor, and presented to the city of
Hallowell in 1899. A marble tablet in its entrance hall bears
this inscription:
This Building Is The
Gift Of
Eliza Clark Lowell
A Lineal Descendant Of
Deacon Pease Clark
The First Settler Of Hallowell
1762
Ill
MEN OF THE FORT AND HOOK
"They lived, loved, wrought, and died; and left a legacy cherished
hy their children."
— Reminiscences of Hallowell.
HE town of Hallowell, from the time of its incorporation
in 1 77 1 to its division in 1797, had the unusual
experience of developing into two distinct villages.
The settlement at Fort Western dated from 1754;
that at Bombahook, from the coming of Pease Clark in
1762. The upper village was commonly called the Fort;
the lower village, the Hook. The formation of two villages,
each around its own center, was the natural result of certain
local advantages, but it was quite unpremeditated by the early
settlers; and for the first quarter of a century there was
a warm community of interests between the Hook and Fort.
All the settlers shared alike in the same hardships, struggles,
aspirations, and achievements. Their interests were mutual,
and all measures adopted were for the common good. There-
fore, in recalling the early history of the town, we must bear in
mind that the present sister cities of Hallowell and Augusta
were, for a quarter of a century, one and the same town, bear-
ing the incorporated name of Hallowell.
During the years of the Revolutionary war, the progress
and development of the town was somewhat checj^ed, but, with
the return of peace, renewed prosperity came to the valley of
the Kennebec, and a number of new settlers arrived at
Hallowell who will always be remembered among the early
promoters and benefactors of the town. Some of the most
active and influential of these new settlers located around the
Fort. The upper village therefore first felt the stimulating
effects of the business energy and capital thus introduced into
the community; and, although this volume is to be especially
26
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
devoted to the story of the famous old town that grew up
around the Hook, we must now pause to pay a brief tribute
to the leading men of the Fort, since these men were prominent
among the makers of Hallowell before the division of the
Mother-Town, and also influential in the shaping of its destiny
at the critical period of its existence in 1797. After the
division of the town, the settlers around Fort Western
loyally devoted all their energies to the upbuilding of the ,
locality which they had chosen for their home ; but before the
aspirations of Fort and Hook diverged, the men of the Fort
shared in the common interests of both sections which together
made the town of Hallowell.
The individual characters of these men are so strongly im-
pressed upon our local history that it would be an easy task for
the artist of to-day to draw their pictures for posterity. Even
a few brief strokes of the pen will render them recognizable
upon these pages.
The name of James Howard, the first and only commander
of Fort Western, stands at the head of the list of early
settlers. Captain Howard came with his family to the Fort in
1754, and was for many years the most influential and promi-
nent man in the community.
It is stated, in the History of Augusta {pdigo. 86), that James
Howard was a highly respectable gentleman who came from
the north of Ireland," and that he was **of Scotch descent."'
This assertion has been frequently repeated by local historians,
but it is evidently incorrect ; for family records and traditions
supported by historic evidence, which are still in the possession
of the descendants of James Howard, show that he was of
English ancestry and descended from a cadet of the house of
Howard now represented in England by the Duke of Norfolk.
The statements of the author of the History of Augusta^
in regard to the origin of James Howard were apparently based
on a superficial impression derived from the fact that in 1735,
this "highly respectable gentleman" appears on the Waldo
Patent at St. George's in company with a Scotch-Irish colony. |
But Eaton, in his Annals of Warren (page 49), states that j
Men of the Fort and Hook
27
James Howard was one of seven men who *'had been previously
deputed by their associates in Boston and vicinity to select a
place for settlement;" and it is claimed by an exact and experi-
enced genealogist of the Howard family, ^ that at the time of the
settlement of the Waldo Patent, James Howard was an English
gentleman living in Boston, that he went to St. George's
river in an official capacity, and that, although he settled there
with the colony of Scotch-Irish, he was not of their nationality.
James Howard certainly proved himself to be a man of
parts and well qualified for the position of a leader; and his
descendants possessed those qualities of mind and character
that we are accustomed to ascribe to good English birth and
breeding. In 1770, after Fort Western was no longer used as
a house of defense, James Howard built for himself, about a
mile farther north, on Governor Shirley's "cut road," the fine
and spacious mansion long known as the "Great House."
Here a most generous hospitality was dispensed. It was said
that the fire was never allowed to go out on the hearth of the
Howard house ; and in 1775, Dr. Senter writes of the Howards
as "an exceeding poUte and opulent family."
The most notable company ever assembled around the
"opulent" board of the Howards, was entertained by the
master and mistress of the Great House in September, 1775.
This was when Colonel Benedict Arnold and his officers made
a brief sojourn at Fort Western on their fateful journey to
Quebec. In this remarkable assemblage there were a number
of men whose names will ever live in the history of our country.
Two of the most brilliant of these guests have, unfortunately,
left the saddest records. Benedict Arnold anc^ Aaron Burr
were then brave and patriotic young soldiers with an apparently
splendid future before them, but died with a shadow upon their
fame. With them, came Captain Henry Dearborn, afterwards
famous in the Revolutionary war and in the service of the
country; also Major Meigs, Captain John Joseph Henry,
Adjutant Febiger, known in the army as "Old Denmark,"
Major Ward, Lieutenant Colonel Green, Chaplain Spring of
* Mrs. Martha Gordon Banks of New York.
28
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Newburyport, and Dr. Senter, the surgeon of the regiment.
Other officers were entertained at the fort by Colonel William
Howard. The army of over a thousand men was quartered
upon the grounds of the fort or stationed in tents upon the
river shores. This was a momentous day at Fort Western and
many tales and traditions of the festivities on this occasion
have come down to us. ^
The mistress of the Great House, Mrs. Mary Howard, died
August 22, 1778. On January i, 1781, Captain James Howard
married Susanna Cony, widow of Lieutenant Samuel Cony.
James Howard died May 14, 1787. The children of Captain
James and Mary Howard were: John, b. 1733; Samuel, b.
1735; Margaret, b. October 25, 1738; William, b. 1740. The
children of Captain James and Susanna Howard were: Isabella,
b. 1781; James, b. 1783.
Captain Samuel Howard, a son of Captain James, was a
master mariner. He married Sarah Lithgow, a daughter of
Colonel William Lithgow, who was "famed for her beauty from
Fort Halifax to Boston town." Colonel William Howard
married his cousin Martha, daughter of Lieutenant Samuel
Howard, and resided all his life in the old Fort. These two
brothers were largely engaged in the lumber business and
built up a prosperous trade between the Kennebec and Boston.
They both became wealthy and influential men.
Colonel Samuel Howard, son of Colonel William, was also
an eminent man in his day. He married Elizabeth Prince of
Boston, whose aristocratic but prudent-minded mother was very
much opposed to the union of her daughter " with one of those
extravagant Howards."
The children of Colonel Samuel and Elizabeth Prince
Howard were Alexander Hamilton Howard, for many years
cashier of the American Bank in Hallowell ; Elizabeth Prince,
who married Thomas Little; Mary Gardiner, who married
Thomas G. Jewett of .Gardiner; and Sarah Colburn who
married Samuel A. Gordon.
Margaret Howard, daughter of Captain James and Mary
* Old Colonial Houses in Maine, pp. 78-88.
Judge Daniei. Cony
Men of the Fort and Hook
29
Howard, married Captain James Patterson. The wedding-
took place February 8, 1763, in the great hving-room of Fort
Western, and the marriage ceremony was performed by the
bride's father, Captain Howard, who, in his office of Justice of
the Peace, was the only person in the settlement qualified to
officiate at the nuptials of his daughter.
Old Fort Western, the home of the Howards, is still
standing on the banks of the Kennebec, in the heart of the city
of Augusta. Its gray and weather-beaten walls are suggestive
of much that is romantic and interesting in the lives of the
early settlers of old Hallowell; and this time-honored land-
mark should be perpetually preserved as a monument of the
ancient town, and in memory of its brave and worthy com-
mander. Captain James Howard.
At the close of the Revolution, many new settlers were
attracted to Hallowell by the advantageous location of the
town; and among the most notable of those who settled at the
Fort was Deacon Samuel Cony of Shutesbury, Massachusetts.
Deacon Cony was born in Boston in 17 18, and was therefore
quite advanced in years when he came, in 1777, to Hallowell,
He stands on record as **a remarkably mild man" and a
zealous Christian. He was the founder of a family long promi-
nent in the annals of Hallowell and Augusta.
Lieutenant Samuel Cony, the oldest son of Deacon Samuel,
was one of the most enterprising and successful men of the town.
He settled on the Seth Greeley lot on the east side of the river
and soon added to his estate so that at the time of his death, in
1779, he possesed five hundred acres of land in Hallowell.
Samuel Cony was an enthusiastic patriot durinj^ the Revolu-
tion; and afterwards served as Lieutenant in the military
organization at Hallowell. His name was inherited by his son
General Samuel Cony, and by his grandson, Governor Samuel
Cony.
Judge Daniel Cony, the second son of Deacon Samuel, has
left a notable record. Before coming to Hallowell, he served
in the Revolutionary army, and was present at the surrender of
Burgoyne. He married Susanna Curtis and came to Hallowell
30
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
in 1778. Here he became eminent in his profession and also
prominent in pohtical affairs. He represented Hallowell in the
General Court of Massachusetts and was a member of the
Executive Council. For a number of years he was Judge of the
Court of Common Pleas and afterwards Judge of Probate for
Kennebec County. He was also deeply interested in all educa-
tional movements and was one of the trustees of Hallowell
Academy, an overseer of Bowdoin College, and the founder
and endower of Cony Female Academy.
"Judge Cony," writes North, "was a man of vigorous intel-
lect, sound judgment, quick perception, and ready resource.
He was uniformly successful in whatever he resolutely under-
took, was a strong ally, a safe and vigorous leader, and he
attained to an influence with his fellow-men which few acquire.
Decision and firmness were conspicuous traits in his character,
while he was cool, calculating, sagacious.
"In his latter days, the Judge had an eccentricity of
manner which was dignified and harmless, and rather added to
than detracted from the interest of personal intercourse. We
recollect when a boy attending a meeting in the South parish
meeting-house and seeing the Judge walk up the broad aisle
with slow and measured tread, clad in a tartan plaid coat much
like the morning dressing-gown of gentlemen of the present
day. A red cap of fine worsted covered his head, from beneath
which escaped locks frosted to a snowy whiteness by age. In
his left hand he held a cane by its center so that its ivory head
appeared above his shoulder. His form was erect and his
appearance venerable, as with sedate aspect he assumed his
seat and became an attentive worshiper." ^
Judge Cony lived to the venerable age of ninety years and
died January 21, 1842.
Another family name long and honorably known in the
annals of Old Hallowell was that borne by Captain Seth
Williams, who came to the Fort village in 1779. Captain
Williams was a descendant of Richard Williams of Taunton,
and belonged to a branch of the English family that traces its
^ NorWs History of Augusta, p. 172.
Mrs. Susanna Curtis Cony
Men of the Fort and Hook
31
ancestry back to Howell Williams, Lord of Ribour, who lived
in the year 1400.
The dominant qualities of the English Williams family
descended to their American representatives who settled at
Fort Western. Seth Williams was a man of forceful character,
strength of mind, and resolute principles. At the age of
nineteen he entered the Revolutionary army as a minute-man,
and was promoted for valorous conduct to the ofhce of lieuten-
ant of his company. At the close of his term of service, he
came to Hallowell where he married Zilpha Ingraham, the
daughter of Jeremiah Ingraham. Captain Williams became an
influential man in the community and occupied prominent
offices in the military and civic organizations of the town. He
was also Representative to the General Court of Massachu-
setts in 1 81 3. He died, honored and respected, March 18,
1 81 7, at the age of sixty-one.
The sons of Seth and Zilpha Williams were all men of
ability who bore an honorable part in the upbuilding of their
native town. Hon. Reuel Williams was educated at the
Hallowell Academy, and admitted to the bar in 1802. He
married, November 19, 1807, Sarah Lowell Cony, daughter of
Hon. Daniel Cony. A few years later he purchased for his
home the large and elegant residence, built by Arthur Lithgow,
and since known as the Williams mansion. As lawyer, states-
man, and United States Senator, Mr. Williams had a long and
honorable career. He was a generous and public-spirited
citizen, interested in the promotion of large enterprises, and to
him the material development and permanent prosperity of the
city of Augusta is in a great measure due. ^
Judge Daniel Williams, the fourth son of Seth and Zilpha
Williams, studied law with his older brother Reuel, and, like
bim, held numerous offices of trust and honor in town and
state. He was one of the promoters of the enterprise for the
construction of the Kennebec dam, and expended a large por-
tion of his fortune in this public-spirited work. Judge Williams
married, for his first wife, Mary Sawtelle of Norridgewock,
32
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
His second wife was Hannah Bridge, the daughter of Hon.
James Bridge.
EHza Williams, born October 30, 1799, daughter of Seth
and Zilpha Ingraham Williams, married Eben Fuller, December
21, 1 82 1, and founded a home typical of the true New England
ideals. She was a woman whose beautiful and beneficent life
will long be remembered.
Joseph North was the son of Captain John North and was
born on the St. George's river in 1739. He removed first to
Gardinerstown, and thence to Fort Western in 1780. He
married Hannah, daughter of Gershom Flagg, one of the
wealthy Plymouth proprietors on the Kennebec ; and, through
his wife's inheritance, acquired an extensive lot of land reach-
ing from Market Square to Bridge Street. There was, in
1780, no road along the river shore. Joseph North made a
clearing in the forest and built his house on a site near the
corner of Oak and Water Streets. Here he laid out an
extensive garden where he cultivated all varieties of flowers
that would grow in this locality.
Joseph North succeeded James Howard as Judge of the
Court of Common Pleas, and remained on the bench of Lincoln
and Kennebec counties for twenty-two years. He was the
grandfather of Hon. James W. North, the author of the His^
tory of Augttsta.
Captain Nathan Weston settled first at the Hook in 1778,
and removed to the Fort in 1781. He engaged actively in
trade, built a wharf, and sent out a vessel which for many
years plied back and forth between Hallowell and Boston.
Like other successful business men of the day, he entered upon
a political career, held oflices of local trust, was representative
to the General Court in 1799, and member of the State
Executive Council. His son. Judge Nathan Weston, fitted for
college at the old Hallowell Academy, under Preceptor Samuel
Moody, graduated at Dartmouth, and became one of Augusta's
most honored sons. Judge Nathan Weston married Paulina B.
Cony, daughter of Judge Daniel Cony. Their daughter
Catherine married Frederick A. Fuller and became the mother
Men of the Fort and Hook
33
of Judge Melville W. Fuller, the eminent Chief Justice of the
United States.
Thomas and Henry Sewall were born in York, Maine.
They came from one of the oldest and most highly respectable
families in Massachusetts, and were descended from one Henry
Sewall of England, "a linen draper, who acquired great estate,
and who was more than once chosen Mayor of Coventry."
It is claimed that the mayor of Coventry traced his descent
from another even more illustrious Henry Sewall who was
none other than the Archbishop of York in the year of our
Lord 1250.
Thomas Sewall came to the Fort Western settlement in
Hallowell in 1775. He was a tanner and made the first leather
that was manufactured in the valley of the Kennebec. He
married Priscilla Cony, daughter of Deacon Samuel Cony, and
built for his home the house afterwards owned and occupied by
Mr. Allen Lambard.
General Henry Sewall followed his brother to Fort
Western in 1783, and became a prosperous merchant. He
served as town clerk in Hallowell and Augusta for thirty-two
years, as clerk of the District Court of Maine for twenty-nine
years, and as register of deeds for seventeen years. General
Sewall had also a most honorable military record. He entered
the Revolutionary army with the rank of corporal and rose
to the rank of major. After coming to Hallowell, he was
commissioned Division Inspector and Major General of the
militia.
General Sewall always assumed a prominent part in all
church affairs and constituted himself the censor of the pulpit.
He was a critical listener, very decided in his / opinions, and
orthodox to the last degree. His own diary and the church
records plainly show that he made things extremely lively and
not always comfortable for the ministerial candidates with
whose doctrines he disagreed. He finally united with the
South Parish church at the Hook. He was appointed deacon
in this church and "continued a member therein — an advocate
of the doctrine of free and sovereign grace."
34
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
During many years of his life, General Sewall kept a diary
from which North draws very freely in his History of Augusta.
The extracts from this diary throw a very clear light on the life
and times in Old Hallowell, at the period of which he writes.
His remarks upon himself and his own doings are no less
frankly illuminating than those upon his neighbors. General
Sewall may very fittingly be called the Samuel Pepys of
Hallowell.
The Lithgow family, first represented in Hallowell by
William Lithgow, Jr., came of ancient and honorable ancestry.
Their genealogy has been traced to *'the probable branch in
Scotland of which Robert the emigrant was a scion;" and
this Scotch family "shows an uninterrupted line through
Robert de Bruce (i 274-1 329) to Egbert (775-836)." ^
William Lithgow, Jr. was the son of Captain William and
Sarah Noble Lithgow of Fort Halifax, and grandson of Robert
Lithgow the emigrant who came to this country with the
Temple colony in 1719. William Lithgow, Jr. received a good
education and studied law with James Sullivan of Biddeford.
On the outbreak of the Revolution he entered the army and
served with honor during the war. He was present at the
surrender of Burgoyne; and his portrait may be seen in
Trumbull's painting of that historical event.
In 1788, William Lithgow came to the village at the Fort
and was the first resident lawyer on the Kennebec north of
Pownalborough .
Mr. Lithgow was learned and eloquent in his profession
He was also remarkable for his "noble figure, manly beauty,
and accomplished manners." He was prominent in poUtical
life and held numerous oflfices of pubUc trust. He was district
attorney for five years, and was twice senator from Lincoln
county to the General Court of Massachusetts. He was com-
missioned Major General of the mihtia in 1787. It was while
General Lithgow and Judge Cony were so prominently before
the public that one of their political opponents petulantly
remarked: "There are certain men in society who seem to
* The Lithgow Library and Reading-Room, p. l8.
Men of the Fort and Hook
35
have hereditary claim to every office in the power of the people
to bestow." 1136495
Colonel Arthur Lithgow, a brother of General William
Lithgow, was appointed the first Sheriff of Kennebec County,
in 1799. He married Martha Bridge of Pownalborough and
built the elegant mansion now known as the Ruel Williams
house, where he resided until his removal from town about
1809. Colonel Lithgow maintained the family reputation for
official ability, generous hospitality, and genial companionship.
He was described by his friend, Mr. John H. Sheppard, as
"one of nature's noblemen."
A third brother, James Noble Lithgow, married Ann
Gardiner, daughter of John Gardiner, the celebrated lawyer of
Dresden, and son of Dr. Sylvester Gardiner. Their son
Llewellyn W. Lithgow, married first: Mary Bowman, daughter
of Thomas Bowman of Augusta ; second: Paulina P. Child,
daughter of Elisha Child of Augusta. The Lithgow
Library" at Augusta, owes its existence to Llewellyn Lith-
gow, and is a worthy monument to the name and to the
generosity and public spirit of its founder.
Another able and eminent man, without whom this
notable group of settlers at the Fort would be incomplete, was
Hon. James Bridge. In 1790, while the village was rapidly
growing under the leadership of the men already mentioned,
James Bridge, a Harvard graduate, who had read law with
Theophilus Parsons of Newburyport, came to Hallowell and
opened a law office in a room of old Fort Western. As
General William Lithgow had then retired from practice,
James Bridge was the only lawyer in Hallowell uhtil the arrival
of Hon. Amos Stoddard, at the Hook, in 1794. Mr. Bridge
soon attained distinction in his profession, and was appointed
Judge of Probate at the time of the organization of Kennebec
county. Other public honors were conferred upon him by his
fellow-citizens. He was a member of the Executive Council of
Massachusetts, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of
Maine in 1820, and one of the commissioners that served under
the act of separation.
36
Old Hallowell on the Ke7mebec
In private, as in public life, Judge Bridge was highly
esteemed. He married Hannah North, daughter of Hon.
Joseph North, and was the father of an interesting and notable
family.
Other well-known and highly respected men settled at the
Fort prior to the year 1797. Amos Pollard, the inn-keeper,
came in 1777; Beriah Ingraham, in 1778; Benjamin Pet-
tengill and Elias Craig, in 1779 ; Jeremiah Ingraham, in 1780;
Samuel Titcomb and James Hewins, in 1783 ; William Brooks,
in 1784; James Child, in 1786; Samuel Church, in 1787;
George Crosby, in 1789; James Burton, prior to 1794;
Barnabas Lambard, father of Allen and Thomas Lambard,
in 1794 ; Theophilus Hamlen and his sons, Lewis, Perez, and
Lot, in 1795.
In the meantime, while the settlement at the Fort was
thus increasing in size and prosperity, the large and valuable
estates of Mr. Benjamin Hallowell and Dr. Sylvester Gardiner
were opened to settlers, and the Hook soon received such a
remarkable impetus, through the coming of a large number of
men of wealth, culture, and enterprise that, during the next
generation, it quite outdistanced its rival village at the Fort.
Sketches of the families that were most prominently
identified with the history of this part of the town will appear
later in our story ; but the names of the earlier settlers, with
the dates of their coming, should here be inscribed in advance,
like the names of the characters in a play, for they represent
the actors who first took a recognized part in the drama of
every-day life at the Hook.
Preeminent among these early residents were Charles and
Benjamin Vaughan, two English gentlemen of wealth,
education, and high social position whose arrival at Hallowell
at once conferred distinction upon the place. To the public
spirit and indefatigable efforts of these two brothers, the early
development and upbuilding of the village at the Hook were in
a great measure due.
Mr. Charles Vaughan came to Hallowell about 1791, and
Men of the Fort and Hook
37
settled on the estate of his maternal grandfather, Benjamin
Hallowell. Mr. Vaughan saw at once the great possibilities of
this location and entered upon extensive business enterprises
with the utmost courage and enthusiasm. He built and
equipped a large flour-mill on the banks of the Bombahook
stream in 1793. He constructed a fine wharf at Bombahook
point and erected stores and warehouses in that vicinity. He
cleared a large farm and imported stock from the best herds in
England. He was also extensively interested in horticulture
and introduced from England a great variety of fruit trees,
small fruits, and vegetables all of which he distributed with a
liberal hand to the farmers of the surrounding country.
Dr. Benjamin Vaughan, who came to Hallowell in 1797,
was no less influential in promoting the public welfare. Dr.
Vaughan was a graduate of Edinburgh University, an eminent
physician, a remarkable scholar, and a gentleman of the highest
culture and refinement. Like his brother. Dr. Vaughan was
interested in agricultural pursuits, and his gardens and
orchards were filled with rare flowers and fruits. Under his
supervision, apples, cherries, plums, and peaches flourished
wonderfully in this new soil and climate ; and scions from the
Vaughan gardens were eagerly sought by the neighboring
farmers.
In their business operations, the Vaughans gave employ-
ment to many of the village people. They built comfortable
homes for the employees; and through their agricultural and
manufacturing enterprises, they induced numerous families of
an exceptionally good class to settle at the Hook.
The homes of Charles and Benjamin Vaughan were social
and intellectual centers from which radiated an irifluence for all
that is good and uplifting. This influence permeated the
whole community and has not ceased to be felt to the present
day. The coming of the Vaughans to Hallowell was an event
of incalculable importance at a critical period of the town's
history ; and the impetus which it gave to the growth and
prosperity of the place, materially, socially, morally, and
intellectually, can not be over estimated.
38
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Two other English gentlemen whose names have a
prominent place in the annals of Old Hallowell were Mr. John
Sheppard and Mr. John Merrick.
Mr. Sheppard appears upon the scene of our story about
1790. He settled near the place afterwards known as
Sheppard' s wharf, and there carried on a large mercantile
business. He was also concerned with the Vaughans in build-
ing a brewery and in other important enterprises. Mr.
Sheppard was a man of education and culture, and his family
occupied a high social position in the town.
Mr. John Merrick came from England with the family of
Dr. Benjamin Vaughan in 1797. He married Miss Rebecca
Vaughan, daughter of Samuel Vaughan, and settled on the fine
old esta.te long known as the Merrick place. Mr. Merrick
lived to the advanced age of ninety-five years, and .during his
whole life he kept in close touch with public affairs, and was a
prominent factor in the development of the town.
The names of other early residents who enacted an influ-
ential and useful part in the affairs of the Hook are given in
the following record :
Briggs Hallowell, son of Benjamin Hallowell, Esq., repre-
sented his father's estate at the Hook as early as 1768. John
Couch took up land in 1772. Shubael and Thomas Hinckley
settled on the Plains in 1773. William Matthews was at the
Hook in 1779. Nathaniel Cheever, bookseller and printer, and
Elisha Nye, ship captain, came in 1781 ; Benjamin Prescott, in
1783; David Sewall, merchant and Justice of the Peace, in
1784; John Hains, Obediah Harris, and Eliphalet Oilman, in
1785; Moses and John Sewall, in 1787 ; Alfred Martin, Thomas
Metcalf, and William Dorr, in 1788 ; Hon. Nathaniel Dummer,
post-master, magistrate, and legislator, in 1789; Jason Liver-
more, John Beeman, and Samuel Dutton, prior to 1790. Dr.
Benjamin Page, Hon. John O. Page, Aaron Page, James
Norris, and Hon. Chandler Robbins were men of consequence
in the community in 1791. Hon. Amos Stoddard, the first
lawyer at the Hook, was established here early in 1794.
Ebenezer Mayo, Deacon James Gow, William Morse. Jr., and
Men of the Fort and Hook
39
Daniel Evans, came in 1793 ; Thomas Lakeman, Nathaniel
Colcord, and Hon. Nathaniel Perley, in 1794 ; James Partridge,
Philip Lord, Abner Lowell, and William Drew in 1797.
The influence of these important accessions was at once
felt at the Hook. Life in this growing community soon broad-
ened in its local interests and in its outlook upon state and
national affairs. The frequent contact of the leading inhab-
itants of the village with men and matters of the outside world
resulted in the establishment of new enterprises at home.
Public spirit was stimulated ; and the foundation for the
remarkable subsequent prosperity of this section of the town
was laid before the people of Fort and Hook came to the
parting of the ways.
IV
EVERY-DAY LIFE AND RELIGIOUS SERVICES
OF THE PERIOD
" Oh, tell me true what they used to do ! "
My child, it was long ago.
Professor Charles F. Richardson
^^S THE period from 1771 to 1797 marked a distinct
^% era, not only in the civic but also in the social and
^ reUgious development of the town, it will now be
interesting to briefly consider the every-day life of the
people of this time and the efforts that were made to establish
a church and provide for the spiritual welfare of its
congregation.
During the few years following the incorporation of
Hallowell, in 1771, the town began to increase in population
and prosperity. The farmers, the fishermen, the lumbermen,
and the traders prospered in their business, and many of the
comforts and some of the luxuries of life were brought into the
homes of the people. The Howards, who were very enterpris-
ing business men, carried on a large coasting trade between the
Kennebec and Boston, and also sent their vessels to Newfound-
land and the West Indies. In 1773, they owned three sloops,
the PheniXy the Industry^ and the Two Brothers. In these
trading vessels, the Howards sent out moose-skins, beaver,
sable, lumber, shingles, etc., and brought back rum, molasses,
tea, coffee, spices, hats, shoes, blankets, nails, ribbons, laces,
and other salable commodities.
Domestic manufactures at this time were encouraged and
extensively carried on, for the people were unwilling to buy
British goods. Calico was then six shillings a yard and not in
general use. The women spun and wove their own flax into
cloth from which they made their bed and table linen, and
much of their own wearing apparel. " Tow" cloth was worn by
the men and boys for shirts and loose trousers in the summer
Every-day Life of the Period
41
season. In winter, small-clothes of moose or deer skin, with a
jacket and cap of fur, constituted a most comfortable costume.
The young girls took an important part in all the house-
hold tasks. They assisted in spinning and weaving, and in
their spare hours they scoured the pewter, made the soap, and
dipped the candles. For fancy work they knit mittens and
socks, often introducing elaborate stitches, like "herring-bone,"
"fox and geese," or "open-work." Pegging and netting were
considered accomplishments ; and some very beautiful bead
bags and purses, and some very astonishing " samplers,"
handed down from those old days, bear witness to the art
instincts of our great grandmothers.
The upper and more prosperous classes dressed more
elegantly, in accordance with the conventional fashions of the
day. Some of our grand old dames of yore had chintzes, silks,
and brocades, with ornaments and laces brought from Boston
or from some foreign port. They wore high-heeled shoes,
hooped petticoats, and tight-laced stays. Elaborately wrought
kerchiefs, ornamental combs, jeweled belt-buckles, rings, and
pins which were the personal possessions of our foremothers
are still cherished as heirlooms in many of the families of old
Hallowell.
The men were even more conspicuous than the women by
the elegance of their dress. A very excellent description of
the costume of a gentleman of the Revolutionary period is
given by Eaton in his Annals of Warren. This is a pen-
picture worthy of preservation.
**On the head was placed a fine, napless, beaver h/at, with a brim
two feet broad turned up on three sides. ... One side of extra width
was placed squarely behind, while the angle formed by the other two,
directly over the nose, gave the countenance an imposing appearance
and formed a convenient handle by which, on meeting persons of
dignity, it was raised with all the gravity of ceremony. . . . Under
the hat the head was still farther defended by a wig, which varied at
different times and with different persons, from the full-bottomed curls
on the shoulders, to the club, or tie wig, which had about a natural
share of hair tied behind, with two or three very formal curls over each
ear.
** The coat was made with a stiff, upright collar reaching from ear
42
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
to ear, and descended perpendicularly in front, with a broad back, and
skirts thickly padded over the theighs and ornamented with gold and
silver lace. The waistcoat was single-breasted, without a collar, and
skirts rounded off, descending over the hips. Small clothes were
buttoned and buckled at the knee. Stockings covered the rest of the
leg ; and the foot was defended with a shoe, secured, at first, with a
moderate sized silver or other metallic buckle, which continued to
increase in size and vary in shape till it covered a great part of the
foot. . . . The shirt was furnished with ruffles at the bosom and
wrists. Sleeve buttons of brass, silver, or gold, often set with stones,
were a necessary addition to this costume." '
Here we have a picture, from top to toe, of the gentleman
of quality at the time of the Revolution. Such was the
costume of the dignitaries of old Hallowell who bore the titles
of Captain, Judge, Esquire, and Deacon, and also of many of
the humbler inhabitants of the town.
After the war, some changes were made in the fashions.
The style of ''French Pantaloons" was introduced by the
French officers during the Revolution ; the wig was succeeded
by the long cue and club of natural hair, which, however, was
often eked out with a false strand ; and the scarlet gold-laced
coat gave way to garments of more sombre hue.
It was at this time that the poet, who bewailed the spirit
of his age, was constrained to write :
' ' And what has become of your old-fashioned cloathes.
Your long-sided doublet and your trunk hose,
They've turned to new fashioned but what the I^ord knows,
And is not old England grown new !
" New trickings, new goings, new measures, new paces.
New heads for your men, for women new faces.
And twenty new tricks to mend their bad cases,
And is not old England grown new ! " ^
"At the present day, such a village as old Hallowell,"
writes Judge Weston, " would be without attraction, promising
nothing to stir the pulse of life. Such an inference would
create an erroneous impression of the actual conditions here at
this period. The place was full of life and animation. It was
the central point of a great part of Kennebec county. The
^ Eaton's Annals of Warren^ p. 141.
2 Ballads about New England.
Every-day Life of the Period
43
river was the thoroughfare of travel ; by its waters in summer,
and on the ice in winter. The Fort . . . was resorted to for
supplies, for exchanges, and for information in regard to pass-
ing events. All classes of people from various settlements
came here, not only on business, but to seek exhilaration from
association with others."
These numerous guests of high and low degree all found
shelter and entertainment in the public inns or taverns of the
town. These hostelries of Fort and Hook, like those of all
New England towns, were centers of social and political life.
Here the people congregated and discussed the exciting ques-
tions of the day. Local politics, the election of a representa-
tive to General Court, or the measures of the Federal
Government were alike subjects of absorbing interest.
Pollard's tavern was a typical hostelry of the period. Here,
we are told, " the men of the town often poured into their cup
of enjoyment too large an infusion of artificial stimulants, and
the gambols of exuberant spirits were often more exciting than
commendable;" but this was in the days before the temper-
ance movement had banished the wine cup, and all the
dignitaries of the town and even the divines of the church
sanctioned by their example the common custom of drinking,
both at home and on public occasions. What then could
be expected of the common people .?
The social life of the women at this period was necessarily
very restricted. As there were no carriages in Hallowell, at
this time, the matrons and maidens rode on horseback, often
mounted on pillions behind the good-men of the town, and paid
their neighborly visits in this manner. An illustration of the
unconventional visiting and of the spirit of hospitality that
prevailed in old Hallowell in these days is given by North from
Mrs. Ballard's diary.
"On tlie 9th of Feb. 1786, Bphraim and Mrs. Ballard with
Amos and Mrs. Pollard who lived on the west side of the river, went ta
Samuel BuUen's on the east side and dined ; from thence, with the
accession of Mr. and Mrs. Bullen, Baker Town, Mr. Shaw, and Mr.
Davis, they proceeded to Samuel Button's on the west side where they
met Dr. Cony and Lady, and spent the evening very agreeably, arriving
at home at midnight."
44
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
This seems to have been a sort of a progressive and
cumulative house-party.
As the roads began to widen, carriages were gradually
introduced among the more prosperous townspeople, but not
without some opposition from the conservative folk who
thought the wheeled vehicles would cause havoc by frightening
the horses. Much traveling for business and pleasure was also
done by sailing or canoeing up and down the river.
In 1784, Henry and Thomas Sewall and Elias Craig built a
great canoe in which family parties frequently made visits to
Pittston, Georgetown, and other places down the river. The
first recorded trip of this great canoe " was made on a
certain Sunday when her owners and others went to a meet-
ing in Pittston where they heard the Rev. Mr. McLean
preach."
During this same year General Henry Sewall made an
eventful journey to Boston on horseback for the purpose of
purchasing goods. He rode down the eastern side of the river
to Pownalborough, swam his horse across the Eastern river,
lodged at the house of his uncle, Henry Sewall, at Bath. From
there he rode to Falmouth ; and at the end of the fourth day,
he reached the home of his father at York, where he spent
eight or nine days. Continuing his journey, he visited friends
at Newbury port and at Cambridge where he "stopped" at
Stephen Sewall' s. The return journey was alleviated by a
succession of visits, and after an absence of thirty-five days,
fifteen of which had been spent on horseback, General Sewall
reached his own home at Fort Western. Here he found that
his goods, which had been shipped in Howard's sloop, had
already arrived from Boston.
This incident furnishes a typical illustration of a journey
into the great world before the establishment of the famous
line of Hallowell packets, and of the enterprise of the business
men in these primitive times. During the next decade the
facilities for traveling greatly increased ; and at the close of the
eighteenth century there was a marked advancement in the
general conditions of every-day life in Hallowell.
Religious Services of the Period
45
While some progress was thus being made in civic and
social affairs at old Hallowell, the religious and spiritual life of
the people was not entirely neglected. Our early settlers were
from the first a law-abiding, God-fearing community ; they
accordingly made an effort to establish religious services and to
support a minister as soon as they were able to do so. The
records of the early church in Hallowell therefore constitute an
essential part in the life-story of the people.
In considering these ancient records, we cannot fail to be
deeply impressed, by the very remarkable character and the
unusual talents of the numerous candidates for the pulpit in
Hallowell prior to the ordination of the Rev. Mr. Stone at the
Fort and of Rev. Mr. Gillet at the Hook. The mere mention
of the names of these candidates gives to the present genera-
tion no adequate idea of the remarkable qualifications of the
men ; but a brief study of their life and subsequent work in the
ministry reveals, in each instance, a most interesting and note-
worthy story.
In the first place, these candidates for the pulpit were all
college graduates. Our forefathers demanded and always
secured educated men for their pastors ; and it is with difficulty
that we now realize how profoundly learned these ministerial
graduates of Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth were in these early
days. I doubt whether any of the candidates for our pulpits,
in the present generation, have come to us so thoroughly
versed in the classic tongues and so familiar with Latin,
Greek, and Hebrew literature as were these eighteenth century
ministers.
Even the entrance requirements at Harvard ^'at this period
would have excluded from that institution many young men
who are considered "fitted for college" at the present time.
Take, for instance, this condition : When any scholar is able
to understand Tully or such like classical author extempore, and
make and speak true Latin in verse and prose ; . . . and
decline perfectly the paradigms of nouns and verbs in the
Greek tongue, let him then and not before be capable of admis-
sion into college." ^
^ Pierce. History of Harvard University^ K'^^^ndS.yi
46
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
After entering the college, the student was obliged to
drop the English language and use Latin as the medium of
conversation.'^ Moreover, the course of study at Harvard
included grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry,
physics, astronomy, ethics, politics, divinity ; exercises in
style, composition, epitome both in prose and verse ; Greek,
Latin, Hebrew, Syriac, and Chaldee. No one was deemed
*'fit to be dignified with his first degree until he was found
able to read the originals of the Old and New Testaments
into the Latin tongue and to resolve them logically." ''This
extraordinary training in the ancient languages," writes Profes-
sor Tyler, "led to forms of proficiency that have no parallel
now in American colleges." It was no wonder that one of the
presidents of this ancient university was accustomed to close
his chapel prayers by asking the Lord to bless Harvard
College and all inferior institutions.^
It will be seen from this brief reference to the college
curriculum, why the minister, in olden times, was looked up to
not only as the spiritual but as the intellectual leader of his
flock. He was the equal and often the superior of any man in
his congregation. Therefore, when we read of the early candi-
dates for the pulpit in Hallowell, let us not forget that they
were all men of profound learning who literally possessed the
gift of tongues.
The very first minister who preached to our early settlers
was the Rev. Jacob Bailey, of Pownalborough. Our town
records contain but one brief entry in regard to this ancient
divine and that is from his own journal of April 8th, 1763, "I
preached however at Captain Howard's and had a considerable
congregation of the upper settlers." And yet who was this
ancient divine who came to this obscure little hamlet on the
Kennebec, and to whom the Howards, the Clarks, the Coxes,
the Davenports, and other settlers had the honor of listening at
that early date } He was a Harvard graduate of the famous
class of 1755, — a class that counted among its members John
Adams, President of the United States ; John Wentworth,
^ Quincy's/^wtorj' of Harvard University, Vol. I, p. 575-
2 Tyler's American Literature During the Colonial Time, Vol. II, p. 308.
Religious Services of the Period
47
Royal Governor of New Hampshire; William Brown, Royal
Governor of Bermuda; David Sewall, Judge of the Supreme
Court of Massachusetts; Samuel Locke, President of Harvard
in 1770; Charles Gushing and Jonathan Bowman of Pownal-
borough; and other eminent men of whom Jacob Bailey was in
liis college days the intellectual peer. He had not only
enjoyed social advantages at home as the guest of Sir William
Pepperell and of Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire, but
he had traveled abroad and dined with his illustrious country-
man, Benjamin FrankUn, in London. More than this, he had
been received by the Bishop of London, entertained by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, in the famous palace of Lambeth,
and had dined with his lordship, the Bishop of Rochester, and
the Bishop of London's lady in a vast marble hal], "at a table
attended by ten servants, and covered with silver dishes and
drinking cups either of glass or solid gold, and on which twenty-
four different dishes were served all dressed in such an elegant
manner that many of the guests could scarce eat a mouthful." ^
While in London, Mr. Bailey took holy orders in the
Church of England. He was then sent, by the Society for
Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, as a frontier mission-
ary, to the wilds of the Kennebec. The after-story of the life
of this learned and able minister, and of his zealous efforts for
the salvation of souls in this hitherto entirely neglected region,
is one of absorbing interest. His heroic and successful labors
on the Kennebec ended, unfortunately, at the outbreak of the
Revolution when, as a Tory minister, loyal to his church and
his king, he was driven from his home and obliged to take
refuge in Halifax. He was afterwards settled over a parish at
Annapolis, Nova Scotia, where he was honored /rector of St.
Luke's for twenty-four years.
The next minister who dispensed the bread of life to the
needy congregation at Old Hallowell was the Rev. John Murray.
This celebrated clergyman was a graduate of the University of
Edinburgh where he completed his course "with high honor."
Upon his arrival in this country in 1763, he went to visit
his sister, Mrs. Jean Murray Reed, at Boothbay, and while
* Bartlett's Frontier Misnonary, p. 63.
48
Old Hallowell oji the Ke^inebec
there promised the people that if they were ever able to support
a minister, he would come again and settle with them. He then
went to Philadelphia where his genius and powers of oratory
were at once recognized; and, in 1765, he was called to the
Second Presbyterian Church of that city. The following year
the people of Boothbay built a meeting-house and requested
Mr. Murray to redeem his promise. It was only after great
persuasion, and with great regret, that the Philadelphia church
released their new and highly esteemed pastor.
This remarkable man was considered by many as the peer
of Whitefield in the pulpit. He was a man of strong intellect,
unwavering purpose, and magnetic personality; and these
characteristics were accompanied by rare graces of heart.
Wherever he preached, the churches were filled to overflowing.
He was the most popular and distinguished minister of his
time in Maine. His sermons were often two and three hours
long, but the attention of his audiences never wavered. His
fame extended throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts,
and he received frequent calls to settle in those states.
Mr. Murray was a handsome man of fine personal
appearance. He wore, in the pulpit, a white wig, gown, and
bands, and was remarkable for his dignified and imposing
presence.
In the year 1773, the selectmen of Hallowell were
authorized to procure preaching for two months and as much
longer as they found "money in the treasurer's hands for that
use." Accordingly the Rev. Mr. Murray was invited to preach
at Fort Western. The passage of the reverend gentleman up
the river was made in a large canoe rowed by hired oarsmen.
It is stated that the style and state in which he came would be
quite equal to that of a coach and span of horses at the present
day.
What impression this remarkable preacher made upon the
people of Hallowell is not a matter of record ; but it is evident
that they could offer him no inducement to settle with them.
Mr. Murray remained the devoted pastor of the church at
Boothbay for fourteen years. He married Susanna Lithgow,
one of the beautiful and accomplished daughters of Colonel
Religious Services of the Period
49
William Lithgow, and resided upon a delightfully located
eminence overlooking Boothbay Harbor. The parsonage,
which was called Pisgah," was a very handsome house sur-
rounded by shrubbery and pleasant gardens. In 1781, Mr.
Murray yielded to the urgent and oft-repeated request of the
church at Newburyport to become its pastor. There he
preached with unabated fervor and success until his death in
1793-
A second ministerial candidate at Hallowell during the
year 1773 was the Rev. John Allen whom the town ''voted to
hire." Of this first resident minister of Hallowell, Miss Annie
F. Page, in her valuable and interesting monograph on "The
Old South Church at Hallowell," writes as follows : Mr.
Allen seems to have been a preacher of righteousness, for in
one of his discourses, he said he 'would be glad to see morality
and good works in their highest latitude.' He stayed a few
months — as long as the funds held out, indeed longer, for he
left the town very much in his debt, which indebtedness was
not canceled until after his death."
Other able candidates came and went. In 1775, Rev.
Thurston Whiting preached a few Sabbaths. He is described
as ** a young man of prepossessing appearance, agreeable man-
ners, cultivated mind, and of the orthodox faith. ^ He after-
wards became the pastor of the church at Warren. In 1777,
a call was given to the Rev. Caleb Jewett of Newburyport, a
Dartmouth graduate, at a salary of eighty pounds a year,
" corn to be taken for part payment at four shillings a bushel."
This call was declined. Mr. Jewett was followed by the Rev.
John Prince, a Harvard graduate, who was also /permitted to
depart to other fields.
In 1782, the long-talked of meeting-house was erected at
the Fort village. It was while the building of this edifice was
going on that the famous rencontre between Deacon Cony and
Edward Savage took place. The story as quoted by North,
from Judge Weston's Reminiscences, is as follows :
"On one occasion when the opposing parties became
warm, it was necessary to take the sense of the meeting by
^ Annals of Warren^ p. 175.
50
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
polling the house, . . . when Deacon Cony, 'a remarkably
mild man,' led the movement in favor of the measure by calling
out as he went to one side of the room, *A11 who are on the
Lord's side follow me,' while Edward Savage, a sturdy, strong
man of rough manners, who was in the opposition and not to be
put down by the Deacon's appeal, called out, 'All who are on
the Devil's side, follow me.' The Deacon had the best
company and the most followers, and carried the question."
After the erection of the meeting-house, there was another
long-protracted period of candidacy. The Rev. Nathaniel
Merrill, a Harvard graduate, and the Rev. Seth Noble, after-
wards settled at Bangor, preached on trial. General Sewall
was not pleased with either of these candidates. Then came
the Rev. William Hazlitt, a notable English divine who
preached at the new meeting-house fourteen Sabbaths.
It seems very strange that this eminent English clergyman
should have been passed over in the records with such scant
notice. There is nothing to indicate who he was nor whence
he came; but, of course, the town clerk could not at this time
have known that Mr. Hazlitt was the father of a son destined
to become a famous English critic and essayist, or that he was
himself a man of exceptional gifts and graces.
Mr. Hazlitt came to Hallowell with a letter of introduction
from Mr. Samuel Vaughan of Boston ; and was engaged to
preach for two months. General Sewall, who was present at
his first service, declared him an Arminian, and believed him
an Arian. " From such doctrines," writes Sewall in his diary,
" I turned away and met with a few brethren at Pettingill's
corner in the afternoon."
As Mr. Hazlitt was an avowed Unitarian, it could hardly
be expected that his theological views would be supported by
Mr. Sewall, or by a majority of the church members. We are
therefore not surprised to learn that at the close of his three
months candidacy he returned to Massachusetts, and was
known no more in Hallowell.
An interesting account of Mr. Hazlitt 's experiences in
Hallowell is given by his daughter Margaret who in her diary
wrote as follows :
Religious Services of the Period
51
"In the autumn of this year (1785) Mr. Sam. Vaughan
persuaded him to go to a new settlement on the Kennebec,
called Hallowell, in the province of Maine, where Mr. Vaughan
had a large tract of land and much interest in settling the
township. This was in the midst of woods, with a few acres
cleared round each farm, as usual in all their new places, which
by degrees are changed from solitary woods to a fruitful land.
At this time the wolves were near neighbors, and sometimes at
night would come prowling about the place, making a dismal
noise with their hideous barking ; and as the doors were with-
out locks, and my father slept on the ground floor, he used to
fasten his door by putting his knife over the latch to prevent a
visit from these wild beasts.
" In this remote place he found a very respectable society,
many of them genteel people. Here he preached a Thanks-
giving sermon, which was afterwards printed in Boston. It
was the custom in New England to preach one every year
after harvest. He would have had no great objection to settl-
ing with these people, but it would not have been eligible for
his sons. John's profession [miniature painting] was not
wanted in the woods, where good hunters and husbandmen
were more needed. He therefore, after spending the winter
there, returned to us in the spring." ^
Mr. Hazlitt during his sojourn in this country, preached in
Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
and Maryland. His influence in this country was not without
some effect. In 1789, Rev. James Freeman wrote: "Before
Mr. Hazlitt came to Boston, the Trinitarian ^oxology was
almost universally used. That honest good man prevailed upon
several respectable ministers to omit it. Since his departure,
the number of those who repeat only scriptural doxologies has
greatly increased, so that there are many churches in which
the worship is strictly Unitarian." ^
Mr. Hazlitt returned to England with his family and died
there in 1820. His son William became the famous English
critic and essayist. If this boy had been brought up at
• The Hazlitts in America a Century Since, Antiquary, lo ; 139.
2 jsfQte in Belsham's Unitarianism .
52 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Hallowell, on the shores of the Kennebec, instead of in Old
England, he would not have been entirely deprived of a literary
atmosphere, but it is doubtful whether his talents would have
developed in the same line as in his English home, and in
association with Lamb, Shelley, Coleridge, and other congenial
and gifted contemporaries. But although Mr. Hazlitt, accord-
ing to his daughter's journal, " had no great objections to
settling with these people," at Hallowell, the town voted to pay
him seventy dollars for fourteen days' preaching, including
Thanksgiving, and permitted him to depart without a call."
In 1786, another very remarkable man, the Rev. Isaac
Forster, a Yale graduate, preached on probation and was
invited to settle by a vote of " fifty-seven for and four against."
General Sewall, as might have been expected, was one of the
''four against;" for, according to his views, Mr. Forster
preached "poor doctrine." The strictly orthodox soul of the
General was so stirred by the result of the church vote that he
observed a private fast at Brother Daniel Pettingill's and
then entered a vigorous protest against the ordination of
Mr. Forster. The protest was in vain and Mr. Forster was
ordained. He remained for two years during which there was a
constant conflict between the discordant parties in the church.
We cannot wonder at this dissension when we consider the
"rank discourses" preached by Mr. Forster. From General
Sewall's protest we learn that Mr. Forster denied that Adam
was created holy ; he denied the total depravity of human
nature in its unregenerate state, holding it only in extent and
not in degree ; he did not believe in the doctrine of absolute,
unconditional election ; . . . and finally Mr. Forster held that
the heathen who are destitute of the gospel really do their duty
in their worship, even though they should hold to a plurality
of deities.
Mr. Forster was evidently imbued with the spirit of higher
criticism in advance of his times ; but notwithstanding this
disqualification, he was duly ordained as pastor of the church
in 1786.
* 'NoTth^s Htsiory o/Aug-usta, p. 208.
Religious Services of the Period
53
A very suggestive reference to this ordination was made by
Judge Weston in an address delivered July 4th, 1854.
"Among the resident citizens," said Judge Weston,
"there was a strong desire to enjoy the advantages of moral
and religious instruction from the pulpit. This was given from
time to time by occasional preachers, until the ordination of
Rev. Isaac Forster, in 1786. I remember that event. I saw
the assembled multitude in the meeting-house and on the
contiguous grounds. It was the spectacle which interested me.
I have no recollection of the services. There followed the
feasting and hilarity at that time usual on such occasions.
Pollard's house resounded with music and dancing, kept up by
relays of participants, quite beyond the endurance of a single
set."
This vivid picture of the hilarity attending the ordination
of a minister in these old days is not peculiar to the locality of
old Hallowell, but is characteristic of the times. I find another
illustration of the manner of celebrating this solemn function in
the journal of good old Parson Smith of P'almouth, who, after
attending the ordination of Mr. Foxcroft at New Gloucester,
made this brief but significant entry in his diary : "A jolly
ordination ; we lost sight of decorum."
The story of Mr. Forster's pastorate discloses a constant
conflict between the discordant parties of his church. At the
end of two years Mr. Forster was forced to resign and the
church was again left without a pastor. Other great and good
men like Rev. Eliphalet Smith and Rev. Ezekiel Emerson
occupied the pulpit from time to time, as candidates or supplies,
and the statement has also been made, and frequently repeated,
that the Rev. Adoniram Judson, the famous rdissionary to
Burmah, preached at Hallowell in 1791. But Adoniram Judson,
the missionary, was not born until 1788; and although he was
a precocious youth and early devoted to the ministry, it hardly
seems probable that he was candidating for the pulpit at the
immature age of three years. It was doubtless the Rev.
Adoniram Judson, Senior, the father of the missionary, who
was officiating as candidate in Hallowell in 1791.
It must thus be admitted that the church of Hallowell, in
54
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
its embryonic days, had a very remarkable succession of able
and distinguished candidates for its pulpit. Nevertheless, the
community suffered from the disadvantages of this intermittent
course of preaching, and from the lack of regularity and
unanimity in its public worship. It was therefore a matter of
rejoicing when the Rev. Mr. Stone was ordained over the
church of the Middle Parish in 1794, and the Rev. Mr. Gillet,
over the church of the South Parish in 1795.
Such was the life of the people of Hook and Fort in Old
Hallowell. It was a life made up, like that of which Emerson
tells us, " out of love and hatred ; out of sickness and pain ; out
of earnings, and borrowings, and lendings, and losses ; out of
wooing and worshipping ; out of traveling, and voting, and
watching, and caring." It was a gradual development from the
primitive conditions of the wilderness to the comforts, the
refinements, and higher ideals of the nineteenth century.
Through this experience, our forefathers attained their concep-
tion of the ''more serene and beautiful laws " of existence.
Anciknt Boundary Line
V
THE DIVISION OF THE TOWN
" The rift was now fatally widening." — Captain Charles E. Nash.
HE last decade of the eighteenth century was a most
eventful period in the history of Hallowell. From a
small and scattered settlement of fifty families in
the year 1775, the town had grown, in 1790, into two
prosperous villages with a combined population of over eleven
hundred inhabitants. During the next ten years, this double
community made remarkable progress. Business flourished,
important institutions were founded, great public enterprises
were undertaken, and then, as a supreme climax to the
inevitable rivalry of interests between the Fort and Hook,
Hallowell was divided into two towns, in 1797. The years of
this decade may very fittingly be called the eventful nineties.
The first notable event of public interest during the
memorable period between 1790 and 1800 was — after the
development of the business interests of the town — the building
of the court-house at the upper village in 1790. The next was
the incorporation of the Hallowell Academy at the lower village
in 1 79 1. The establishment of this time-honored institution
gave to the Hook great educational advantages, and was a
potent factor not only in the intellectual but in the material
advancement of the town.
In 1794, the sessions of the Supreme Judicial Court of
Massachusetts were established at 'Hallowell. As the court-
house had been located at the Fort, the sittings of the Supreme
Court were held in this part of the town ; but the honor and
glory of these occasions were so great that the Hook also
shared in their radiated splendor. The first session convened
July 8, 1794. This was a very grand and spectacular event.
The judges present were Paine, Sumner and Dawes. They
were accompanied by the most famous lawyers of the day,
56 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
■I
among whom were Attorney General Sullivan, Theophilus
Parsons, and Nathan Dane. The three sheriffs, each with his
cocked hat, his glittering sword, and his long, white staff of
office, were most imposing figures as they marshalled the
grand procession of judges and jurists to the beating of the
drum, and led them to the meeting-house, — since the court
room proved too small to hold the vast assembly.
The session of the Supreme Court was the occasion not
only for the adjustment of all local claims but for choosing the
representatives to the General Court and electors to the
Federal Congress. It brought together prominent men well
informed in state and national affairs, and also the gentry of
the whole surrounding country, who, as Judge Weston tells us,
"came to see and be seen and to enjoy the novelty and excite-
ment of the occasion." The sittings of the Supreme Court
were therefore always attended by many social functions. The
convivial feasting that began at all the small inns and the taverns
of the town was repeated on a larger and more elegant scale
in the homes of the prominent people. As the valley of the
Kennebec, even at this early day, was famous for its able
lawyers, the visiting barristers and judges were entertained in
the homes of many brilliant men of their own profession.
The coming of the members of the court therefore gave an
added distinction to society in Hallowell, and both Fort and
Hook shared in the prestige of the occasion.
The year 1794 was also memorable for the establishment
of a weekly mail from Portland, via Monmouth and Winthrop,
to Hallowell ; for the division of the town into three parishes ;
and for the ordination of Rev. Mr. Stone over the church of
the Middle Parish.
Another event of signal importance in 1794 was the found-
ing of the first newspaper of Hallowell. This was the
Easte7it Star which for one short year shed its illuminating
beams upon the shores of the Kennebec.
In 1775, the Eastern Star was succeeded by a new paper
with the somewhat alarming name of the Tocsin. Both of these
papers were published at the Hook. A little later, in the year
1775, the Intelligencer was issued at the Fort. These papers
The Division of the Town
57
were of great importance in bringing the people of the Kenne-
bec in touch with the outside world, in elevating public senti-
ment, and especially in moulding the political opinions of
their readers at a critical time of our state and national history.
In 1796, the famous Old South meeting-house was erected
at the Hook, and the Rev. Eliphalet Gillet was duly installed
as pastor. In this year also occurred the most exciting
event that had thus far taken place in the history of the town.
This was the granting of a charter for the building of the
Kennebec Bridge at Fort Western.
Finally, as a supreme climax to the story of the Hook and
Fort, came the division of Hallowell into two towns, in the year
1797. This year is therefore a most memorable one in the
history of both places.
The causes that led to the division of the town of Hal-
lov/ell are neither obscure nor difficult to understand, but are
such as the impartial historian might readily anticipate. For
the first few years after the incorporation of the town, both
Fort and Hook were absorbed in the struggles and difficulties
of all pioneer settlers, and the common needs of the people
resulted in common measures for the good of the whole com-
munity. In course of time, however, each of the two villages
began to assume local importance ; and the inhabitants of each
neighborhood naturally desired to build up the center nearest
their own homes. At the Fort, the lumber business was a
source of marked prosperity ; but the Hook, on account of its
very superior facilities for navigation, built up its agricultural,
mercantile, and shipping interests, and soon surpassed its
sister village in size and commercial prosperit^y. A strong
spirit of rivalry thus grew up between the two sections of the
town.
The church privileges were also, from the first, coveted by
both villages, but the early religious services were always held
at the Fort. The first meeting-house was built at the Fort
village, and the inhabitants of the Hook found it inconvenient
to attend divine worship every Sunday. This was one of the
earliest causes of dissatisfaction and dissension.
58 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec {
But the sharpest conflict between the two villages was in
the administration of town affairs. Local politics ran high at
both Fort and Hook. As long as the Fort held the leadership
and was accorded the control of affairs, all went well ; but
when the Hook began to increase in size and prosperity and to
have able men to represent its interests, it demanded its share
in the public emoluments. A strong sectional feeling became
apparent in all public transactions. This feeling grew with the
growth of the town, and soon began to manifest itself in out-
spoken rivalry.
This spirit of rivalry was especially manifest at the town
meetings where there were numerous minor questions at issue.
Some of these questions were : Who were qualified to be
voters, how many selectmen should be appointed, and where
the town meetings should be held. North states that, at the
annual meeting in 1793, ''a violent attempt was made by the
people at the Hook to remove the office of town clerk to that
neighborhood, in which they were defeated by the election of
Henry Sewall to that office by a majority of 18 votes." The
town records add that a protest was entered against the moder-
ator of this meeting by which it was claimed that twenty-four
persons eligible to vote were prevented from doing so by the
action of the moderator.
The last coup d'etat in this struggle was made in 1795,
when " the Hook surprised the town meeting, assembled at the
meeting-house, into an adjournment to meet, for the first and
only time, at the Academy at the Hook. The Fort rallied its
strength and adjourned back." The constable, at this time,
was Jeremy Black, a popular young Scotchman, who was quite
equal to the occasion. He was tall and straight, with an
imposing figure. Dressed in his official costume, with shining
buckles at the knees and upon his shoes, and with powdered
hair tied in a cue, he majestically waved his wand of office,
headed the victorious voters and marched them back to the
village at the Fort.
The foregoing statements represent the more serious
aspect of the situation just before the division of the town. A
few quotations from the columns of the Intelligencer, published
The Division of the Town
59
at the Fort, and the Tocsin published at the Hook, will in their
spirited but good-natured thrusts quite as plainly disclose the
j trend of public sentiment.
In April of this year, 1796, there were lying at anchor at
Fort Western, the surprisingly large number of fifteen sloops
' and schooners, among which were the Phebe and the Twa
Brothers belonging to the Howards. The Intelligencer proudly
! published a list of the vessels with their tonnage and the names
1 of their commanders. In response to this, the Tocsin made a
i few pithy remarks in its next issue. I copy from the ancient
! files of this paper now preserved in the Hubbard Free Library,
the following "editorial " which appeared under date of May 3,
! 1796:
i
We see in the Intelligencer, a paper printed at a village,
two miles and a half above this place, a pompous account of the
arrival of shipping at Fort Western." [This, as the Tocsin
states in a foot-note, is a village which derives its name from a
block house that is still standing and makes a respectable part
of the settlement.] " Had it been a thing uncommon or
worthy of public notice we might have given our readers earher
information that these vessels named and many others all
safely arrived at this port from sea ; and this week we might
have added, that being favored with a freshet which brought
the waters 6 feet above high-water mark, part of the fleet
seized the opportunity of a strong southerly wind and run their
hazard to Fort Western.
" Considering that many gentlemen abroad may have their
interest concerned in such desperate navigation, we think it our
duty to inform them that the larger vessels have prudently
fallen down without their lading to this port, and although they
got aground, we are happy to add no material damage occurred
— - doubtless the rest will take into consideration the propriety
of hastening their departure to the Hook.
N. B. Those who have concern for the ships of 17 tons
there mentioned may feel easy, for if the freshet should fall the
navigation will be as usual — the men may get out & push such
vessels over the shoals."
6o
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
The editor of the Intelligencer, hearing a few discordant
notes from the Alarm Bell, aUas the Tocsin^' makes a witty
reply. He admits that " the ship Betsey of three hundred and
seventeen tons and drawing about nine feet of water which was
launched at this place a few days since, unfortunately struck on
the shoalest ground between Fort Western and the entrance of
the Kennebec," but is happy to add, that through the friend-
ly exertions of the editors of the Tocsin, she was fortunately
pushed over the shoals 2indi received no material injury." The
Intelligencer adds : We hope they will render the same
friendly assistance should the Montezuma of three hundred
tons which will be launched on Wednesday next by Messrs.
Howard, meet the like accident. We however congratulate the
public on the fair prospect of this bar — which is an obstruction
to the navigation of large vessels to Fort Western, — the head
of navigation, being shortly removed, as we understand a sub-
scription for that purpose is on foot and will be doubtless
accomplished next summer ; as also the Kennebec bridge will
in all probability be erected at that time."
Here are two very pointed thrusts at the Hook : the appar-
ently casual mention of Fort Western as the head of navigation,
and the triumphant announcement of the coveted Kennebec
bridge. The Intelligencer then adds : " These important
objects when accomplished must at once decide on the decline
of the increasing importance of the Hook village below." '
The question of building the bridge and of the place of its
location now proved to be the supreme issue between the Fort
and the Hook. The necessity of a bridge across the Kennebec,
for purposes of travel and trade, was most obvious to all con-
cerned ; but the people of the two villages could not agree as to
its location. North tells us that the Fort claimed the location
on the ground that the bridge would be at the head of the tide
and not obstruct navigation. The people of the Hook declared
they were at the head of navigation and their village was the
only suitable place for the erection of the bridge.
Each village had its able and loyal advocates. A petition
signed by Samuel Howard and others for an act authorizing
I North's Hisiory of A?-i£:us(a, p. 276,
i
The Division of the Town
6i
them to build a bridge at Fort Western, was presented to the
legislature. Daniel Cony, Senator, and James Bridge, Repre-
sentative, used all their influence in behalf of the Fort. The
Hook was represented by Mr. Charles Vaughan, a most able
advocate who had strong personal and political influence both
at home and in Massachusetts.
The petition was referred by the Legislature to a commit-
tee of which Captain Choate was chairman. It appears from
the records that Captain Choate had once visited the Kenne-
bec while in the coasting trade ; and that he expressed to Dr.
Cony the opinion that Fort Western was the only suitable
place for the bridge. We cannot now tell how far the members
of the committee were influenced by the opinion of the chair-
man, but they decided in favor of Fort Western ; and an act
incorporating a company, with authority to build the bridge
at this place, was passed on February 8th, 1796.
This was a great and bitter disappointment to the people
of the Hook who had long, in their imagination, seen the
Kennebec spanned by a noble bridge connecting their village
with the opposite shores. It was vehemently protested that
this was the best place for the bridge, both on account of the
natural advantages of the location and the requirements of the
public ; but this protest was without avail.
This heated contest resulted in the culmination of sectional
feeling between the two villages, and was soon followed by the
division of Hallowell into two separate towns. By an act of
the Legislature on February 20th, 1797, the town of Hallowell
was divided and nearly two-thirds of its territory and about
one-half of its taxable property were set off for /a new town.
The dividing line passed just south of Howard's Hill on the
west side of the river and north of the Davenport grant on the
east side. The new town, at the suggestion of Hon. Amos
Stoddard, was named Harrington, in honor of Lord Harrington,
an eminent English statesman. This name was soon corrupted
into " Herringtown," and became a term of derision. A
petition was therefore made to the Legislature stating that, for
many reasons which operate on the minds of your petitioners,
they are desirous that the name of Harrington may be changed
62
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
to the name of ''Augusta." This appeal was granted and on
June 9th, 1797, Harrington became Augusta. The Hook had
the good fortune of retaining its old and honored name of
Hallowell.
The following list of officers elected April 2, 1798 gives
the names of some of the prominent residents at this important
date.
Benjamin Pore,
Daniei. Evans,
James IvAThrop,
John Odi,in Page,
Nathaniei. Dummer,
Robert Randai,!,,
Peter Grant,
Town Clerk.
Constables.
Treasurer.
Selectmen and Assessors.
Martin Brewster,
James Hinki^ey Jr.,
Bbenezer Church,
W11.1.1AM Dorr,
Samuei/ Stevens,
James Atkins,
Surveyors of Highways.
Abraham Davenport,
Jeremiah Dummer,
Joseph Smith,
Tythingmen.
Joseph Brown,
Ephraim L/ORD,
SamueI/ Hussey,
NATHANIEI. COI.CORD,
Tristam Lock,
NATHANIEIy TMON,
James Cocks,
Ephraim Gii^man,
James Hinkley,
Peter Grant,
James Springer,
James Partridge,
Joseph Dummer,
Daniee Evans,
James Lathrop,
Robert Randai,!.,
Thomas Eustice,
SETH IvITTEEEIEED,
Benjamin Stickney,
Surveyors of L umber.
The Division
MOSKS Pai,mer,
Shubaei. West,
JamEvS HinkIvEy,
Wii^LiAM Pai;mer Jr.,
Moses Carr,
Benja. Stickney,
Benja. Pore,
Wii^i^iAM Dorr,
SAMUEIy BUIvI^EN,
Samuei. Bui^IvEn, 1
Isaac Pii^sbury, |
Thomas Davis, [
Thomas Hinki^ey, J
Abraham Davenport, ^
Samuei/ Hussey,
Andrew Goodwin,
Nathan Sweatland,
Nathaniei. Coi^cord,
Thomas Hinki^ey,
Moses Pai^mer,
Wii,i<iAM Dorr, J
David Day,
DanieI/ Heard,
Thomas Stickney,
Nathaniei< Coi^cord,
of the Town 63
Cullers of Hoops and Staves
also Packers of Beef and
Fish.
Fence Viewers.
Field Drivers.
Fish Com.
Sealers of Leather.
School Com. No. i.
School Com. No. 2.
I
Schvol Com. No. j.
School Com. No. 4.
Stephen Osgood,
Benjamin Ai,i,en,
Nathaniei. Tii^ton,
Jeremiah Dummer,
Martin Brewster,
Thomas Bustice,
Joseph Smith,
John Sheppard,
Samuei. Brewster,
Woodward Ai.i,en,
Thomas Davis,
Wii^LiAM Springer,
Nathaniei. Roi,i.ins,
Peter Grant,
The names of some of the most enterprising merchants of
Hallowell may be learned from the advertisements in the
columns of the " Tocsin!'
64
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
On June 17th, 1796, Chandler Robbins announces a new
variety store and "flatters himself that as he has imported his
Goods immediately from the manufacturers, he shall be able to
supply his friends and customers, either by wholesale or retail,
at a rate that cannot fail to give satisfaction."
Benjamin Page announces that he " has lately received a
very handsome assortment of Drugs and Medicines among
which is a great variety of patent articles, . . . Also Nut-
megs, Mace, Cloves, Cinnamon, Allum, Coperas, Logwood, Oil,
Vitriol, Aquafortis, &,
John Odlin Page advertises " A general assortment of
English Goods suitable for the season: also best French
Brandy, W. I. and N. E. Rum, Tea, Coffee, Cotton, Molasses,
Loaf and Brown Sugar, Chocolate, Nutmegs, Starch, best Keg
and Pigtail Tobacco, Russian and Swedes Iron, German Steel,
a large assortment of Iron Ware, Tin ditto, few barrels very
excellent cider. Rock Salt, Crockery Ware, &, which will be
sold as low as at any store in town."
It is evident that • Mr. John Odlin Page had com-
petitors in his line of business, for White & Lowell immediately
announce that they have just received "A fresh and general
assortment of English and West India goods, including all
sorts of wearing apparel, household goods, ornaments, inclu-
ding common and paste pins, West India Rum, Syder, Tea,
Coffee and Molasses."
This spirit of competition is also apparent in the advertise-
ments of the large dry goods and variety stores. John
Sheppard, one of the earliest and most enterprising merchants
at the Hook in Hallowell, issues an advertisement enumera-
ting in two long columns the articles in his newest and most
"fashionable assortment of Callicoes, Chintzes, Stuffs, Kersey-
meres, Table linen. Broad Cloths, Handkerchiefs, Muslins,
Waistcoatings, Gloves, Stockings, hats. Hard ware. Glass ware,
Crockery ware, &. 8z. &. Also — A general assortment of
West India Goods."
In the very next issue of the Tocsin^ Chandler Robbins and
Nathaniel Cogswell are each out with an advertisement longer
and more varied in its list than that of Mr. Sheppard ; and a
Tke Division of the Town
65
1 little later Joshua Wingate & Son dazzle the eye of the public
},i with their rich and rare assortment of all things desirable for
3 the residents of old Hallowell. We are obliged ourselves to
j confess to a feeling of surprise at the great variety of dress
, goods, household furnishings, and toilette articles introduced
by these enterprising merchants at the close of the eighteenth
century.
Other minor advertisements indicate the business and
vocation of some of the early residents whose names are still
, familiar to our people. Robert Randall has for sale a quantity
i of excellent Liverpool salt. John Beeman announces "stone
lime," Thomas Lakeman advertises for "two active lads as
Apprentices to the bricklaying business," Nathaniel Kent
offers " Cash and the highest price for shipping Furs,''
Nathaniel Cogswell makes a specialty of books and stationery,
the Sewall Brothers have a seasonable announcement of
I summer goods, and "Miss Margaret Roberson, Mantua Maker,
lately from Newburyport, informs the ladies that she would be
happy to serve them in the line of her profession."
A great change had surely taken place in our mother town
from the time of its incorporation in connection with the Fort,
to the memorable year when it stood alone and bravely grappled
with the problems of its own municipal, commercial, and social
[ I future. From a small hamlet, half dependent upon its neigh-
bor, it had, at the end of a quarter of a century, emerged as a
prosperous and independent town. Men of brains and capital
controlled its large business enterprises. It had its own
church with its revered pastor ; its Academy, with a scholarly
and successful Preceptor ; its able and eloquent /lawyers ; its
"beloved physician;" its broad-minded statesmen; its enter-'
! prising ship-builders, merchants, mechanics, and farmers,
li. ! Comfortable homes with pleasant gardens stood upon its
crescent-shaped shore and dotted the hillside that rose like a
green amphitheater above. At the north, the green banks of
Hinkley's point, and at the south the curving shores of Bomba-
j. I hook, like sheltering arms, defined the natural limits of the
jjjj; I town. An atmosphere of prosperity and enthusiasm prevailed ;
j and we cannot now fail to be impressed with the courage and
I
66
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
all-prevailing faith of the people when this old town began its
new and independent life.
The efforts of the loyal townspeople, new and old, were
abundantly rewarded. Old Hallowell started upon a career of
prosperity which in the retrospect seems almost phenomenal ;
but contemporary records and the testimony of the oldest
inhabitant" unite to prove that "in the early part of this
century there was no place in Maine that, from a business
standpoint, stood higher than Hallowell; and socially and
intellectually it had few if any equals." ^
It is to this memorable period in the history of Hallowell
that the thoughts of all her sons and daughters revert with
faithful and affectionate remembrance, and if its story could be
fully told, in a spirit of verity and with sympathetic under-
standing, it would be one of rare interest and intrinsic value ;
for the evolution of a representative New England town
through the development of individual efforts and interests is a
subject of importance to the psychologist and sociologist as well
as to the maker of history. Moreover, the true historian is not
he who merely compiles a record of facts and dates, but is one
who discloses the elements that enter into the character of the
people and shows the effects produced by circumstances and
environment. It is, therefore, of the life of this ancient town
in the palmy days of its existence that we would now if pos-
sible present a picture which will be recognized as faithful and
true by every son and daughter of old Hallowell.
I History of Kennebec County, Vol. I, p. 510.
f
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' Behold, — a resting place of hope, —
The pines on Ferry Hill! "
— Ellen Hamlin Butler.
VI
SOURCES OF HALLOWELL'S PROSPERITY
" Hallowell, at the beginning of the present century, was one of the
marked and promising towns of Maine. ... It was moreover, even
at this early day, the seat of a remarkably select society, included in
which were a number of families of rare personal qualities and the
highest cultivation." — Rev. Edward Abbott.
A STRANGER visiting Hallowell, to-day, cannot fail
to be impressed by the picturesque beauty of its
location, and by the characteristic old-time New-
England atmosphere of the place. As he passes
through its long, parallel streets or up and down its sloping
hillsides, he will still see the handsome, spacious houses of the
early settlers of old Hallowell, with their ever hospitable doors
still open to the guest. As he walks along the business street,
he will still note here and there the ancient stores and ware-
houses wherein the masters of Hallowell's old mansions made
their fortunes a hundred years ago. But neither the stranger
within our gates, nor, indeed, many of our own people of the
younger generation, are able now to picture for themselves the
elegant social life that once went on within these stately homes,
nor the scenes of bustle and activity that filled its long
main thoroughfare.
True it is, however, that at the opening^ of the nine-
teenth century Old Hallowell was the busiest place in the
district of Maine east of Portland and at one time bade fair to
become the great commercial metropolis of the state. Its
large warehouses were filled with the merchandise of its
wealthy traders. Its wharves were lined with packets wait-
ing to ship their loads of barley, oats, and corn to Boston and
other ports. Its numerous trading vessels plied constantly
between Hallowell and the West Indies, carrying out the
exports of the Kennebec, and bringing back those commodities
that formed the staple of trade with the town and country
68
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
people. Ferry-boats were constantly employed in conveying
passengers, produce, and lumber across the Kennebec. Six-
teen stage routes centered at Hallowell, and long lines of
vehicles of various kinds might daily be seen coming down
Winthrop Hill or along the other thoroughfares. The main
street of the town was often so crowded with these country
teams that it was difficult for a carriage to find a passage way.
Many of the country merchants drove directly to the wharves
where the cargoes of groceries, rum, molasses, and other
luxuries of life were sold before they were unladen ; for at this
time Hallowell was the business center for a region of sixty
miles around, and from all the settlements east, west, north,
and south, came the small traders and people in general to
purchase their stocks of goods and all their household supplies.
An interesting statement in regard to old Hallowell is
made by Edward A. Kimball, an English traveler who visited
the valley of the Kennebec, a century ago :
" In the winter when the inhabitants can travel on the
snow, the lower streets are thronged with traffikers and their
sleighs. (A local name for sledge learned from the Dutch
Colonists.) Hallowell is the natural emporium for a vast tract
of country. I found it asserted here that from the configura-
tion of the country, the commerce of the upper Connecticut
belongs to this place. Hallowell even hopes to dispute* with
Montreal and Quebec in the commerce of the new settlements
in lower Canada on the heads of the Connecticut and to the
northward of New Hampshire and Vermont. Portland, which
Hallowell hopes wholly to rival, enjoys some portion of the
Canadian commerce, but this is owing probably only to want of
roads between the new settlement in the province and the
banks of the St. Lawrence. But Hallowell has still better
prospects in the immediate contiguity of a fine grazing
country.'*' '
An article in the American Encyclopedia issued in 1807,
also states that Hallowell is the natural head of Kennebec
navigation ; that it is a better distributing point for Canada
» Civic Virtue, Professor Charles F. Richardson.
Sources of HallowelV s Prosperity
69
than Portland; and that it is certain to become one of the
largest American cities. ^
This prosperity and spirit of enterprise attracted men of
all professions and trades to settle in Hallowell, and the popu-
lation of the town rapidly increased. In 1821, Hallowell had
about two thousand inhabitants. Upon its business street
were seventy-one stores, including three large bookstores. It
had two printing establishments where two weekly newspapers,
and an astonishingly large number of books were printed. A
table of statistics, by Judge Weston, shows that Augusta, at
this time, had only one thousand inhabitants, only twenty
stores, and no printing houses. In the light of its present
prosperity, however, Augusta can well afford to accord to old
Hallowell the glory of its one half-century of commercial and
intellectual supremacy.
The chief and direct sources of the business prosperity of
old Hallowell were its commercial and maritime interests inclu-
ding the great industry of ship-building that was carried on
upon its shores. At this time, Hallowell was practically a sea-
port town, and its river shores were lined with wharves and
docks. The vessels built and owned at H^allowell sailed to
many domestic and foreign ports and returned with cargoes
that brought large profits to their owners. As the merchants
of the town accumulated wealth, they joined with the ship-
owners in building vessels, and much of the capital of the town
was invested in this profitable industry.
In these early days there were a dozen or more wharves
located at neighborly intervals along the shore where vessels
were constantly built and launched. As Sheppard's wharf was
considered the head of navigation for the larger vessels, much
of the ship-building centered in this vicinity; and here many of
the brigs and schooners cast anchor and discharged their
cargoes.
Among the early "kings of industry" at Hallowell were
the two pioneer ship-builders Isaac Pilsbury, who settled at
Loudon Hill in 1792, and Captain Isaac Smith, who had a
I Civic Virtue, Professor Charles F. Richardson.
70
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
large ship-yard at Sheppard's wharf in the early nineties.
Here the brig Belle Savage^ the schooner Indian Queen^ and
numerous packets, some of which Captain Smith commanded,
were built and launched.
Another early ship-builder at the Hook was Ebenezer
Mayo, who came from Harwich, Cape Cod, to Hallowell in
1793. He also had a ship-yard in the vicinity of Sheppard's
Point, where he employed quite a large number of men, and
where he was familiarly known as Master Mayo." At his
death in 1815, anew vessel "of about one hundred tons
burthen, with high deck, suitable for the West India Trade or
coasting " was left in an unfinished condition in the ship-yard.
Other vessels built in Hallowell, about this time, were the
fast-sailing schooner Averick commanded by Captain George
Carr, and the Rtiby owned by Morse and Pool. These vessels
plied back and forth between Hallowell and Boston as early as
1797.
Just north of Sheppard's Point were the wharves of
Captain Sarson Butler where the sloop A^'iadne used to lie at
anchor, and that of Captain Shubael West, with the Primi'ose
and the Delia. These captains and their sloops were well
known to the people of the Kennebec, as they plied for a
number of years between Hallowell and Boston. They had no
regular day for sailing, but each captain started when he was
ready, providing there was a propitious wind ; and the pas-
sengers meekly accommodated themselves to the order of the
master.
The next wharf was that of Abner Lowell who owned the
Enterprise and the Rapid. These two fine brigs were engaged
in the West India trade. They sailed for Bermuda laden with
lumber, hay, cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens, and returned in
a few weeks with a cargo of molasses and that never failing
article of general traffic, — "W. I. Rum." North of Lowell's
wharf were Clark's, Sewall's, Livermore's, Dummer's, and
others, — all busy and exciting places with the coming and
going of many crafts. Great rafts of boards were also shipped
at these wharves under the inspection of Gideon Gilman who,
Sources of HallowelV s Prosperity
with shingle and pencil in hand, and, on hot days, sheltered by
his umbrella, surveyed every load as it was put on ship-board.
More extensive than either of the above mentioned
wharves was the one back of Kennebec Row, which extended
the whole length of five stores. This wharf was built sixty or
seventy feet out into the stream so that vessels could lie on
three sides of it. The famous Boston packets, commanded by
Andrew Brown, James Blish, Isaac Smith, and other well-
remembered captains anchored here ; and this great wharf
was often over-crowded with freight awaiting transporta-
tion. An immense amount of business was transacted on the
Kennebec wharf during the first quarter of the nineteenth
century. Much of the freight shipped from Boston was for
the country merchants and was stored in the neighboring ware-
houses until called for. In the fall of the year, the wharf was
crowded with wagons loaded with ^'Chenango" potatoes await-
ing shipment to Boston and other ports ; and it was not an
unusual sight to see loads of grain running into the holds of
the vessels from long spouts constructed at the back of the
warehouses.
The teamsters, who necessarily took an important part in
all this traffic, made use of trucks consisting of two long shafts
extending from the horse about fifteen feet until the rear ends
almost touched the ground, so that the hogsheads of molasses
and rum could be rolled up the incline to the proper bearing
near the wheels. The arrival of the trains of country produce,
of a vessel from the West Indies, or of the regular packets
from Boston, Newburyport, Falmouth, and other ports was the
occasion of great bustle and excitement at the old Kennebec
wharves. /
It is difficult now for us to invest these streets and the
river shores with the activity and enterprise of these prosper-
ous days ; but we know that location and circumstances
favored the town, and even the deserted warehouses and grass-
grown landings of the present day testify to the truth of the
tales told to us by our fathers.
It must, therefore, be admitted that, at the opening of the
nineteenth century, the material prosperity of Hallowell was
72
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
due to its agricultural, commercial, and maritime interests.
In the same manner we must admit that the sources of the
literary and social prominence of the town were its early
churches, schools, newspapers, publishing houses, libraries,
lyceums, and other institutions that contributed to the moral
and intellectual upbuilding of the community. But the funda-
mental cause of the prosperity and prominence of Hallowell in
both respects was the character of the people by whom the
town was first settled. The founders of Hallowell were men
of education, wealth, public-spirit, and of high moral and social
standing. The other settlers of all professions and trades, even
in the humbler walks of life, were an exceptionally excellent
class of people. They came, many, of them, from the best
families of Barnstable, Essex, and Middlesex counties in
Massachusetts, and from Exeter, and Dover, and other early
settled towns of New Hampshire. Taken together, these
early residents formed a community remarkable for its intelli-
gence, moral worth, social culture, enterprise, and devotion to
the welfare of the town.
In order, therefore, to read the story of Hallowell aright,
we must first become acquainted with some of the eminent
founders of the town, and then consider the religious,
educational, and social institutions which they maintained.
VII
THE VAUGHAN FAMILY
I desire to live only for my family and mankind."
— Dr. Benjamin Vaughan.
^^Bj^HE names of Benjamin Vaughan, M. D., LL. D., and
/ "4 Charles Vaughan, Esq., must ever stand preeminent
^F^/ on the list of the founders of the town of Hallowell.
Charles Vaughan, Esq., came to Hallowell in 1791;
Dr. Benjamin Vaughan in 1797; and the two brothers settled
upon a large estate which they had inherited through their
mother, Sarah Hallowell Vaughan.
Dr. Benjamin and Charles Vaughan were English gentle-
men of education, culture, wealth, and public spirit. They
came to Hallowell to make a permanent home for themselves
and their children, and they devoted all their energies and
resources to the material, social, intellectual, and religious
upbuilding of the place. To the Vaughans, more than to any
other one family, Hallowell owes its early commercial pros-
perity, and the high social, mental, and moral standards that
were at once established in the town. Their names stand out
prominently in the records of the church, the schools, the
libraries, and all public business enterprises.
A family which constituted so important an element in the
development of the town should receive ample and grateful
recognition from the historian's pen ; but word^s of eulogy are
quite unnecessary in tracing the influence of a family that, for
over a hundred years, has identified itself with the interests of
our community, and that still, at the opening of the twentieth
century, bears the same comparative relationship to Hallowell
that it did a hundred years ago.
The Vaughans are the only family in our midst that
occupy a house erected by their ancestors prior to the nine-
teenth century. Theirs is the only home where a collection of
74
Old Hallowell on the Ke7inebec
household furnishings, books, pictures, and other ancestral
treasures, brought from England, at this early period, is still
preserved. Other dwellings of wealth, refinement, and
influence, established at a later date, still exist in Hallowell;
but the Vaughan homestead is the only one that has remained
intact in the same family for four generations, and in which the
descendants of its first occupants still maintain its earliest
traditions of hospitality, liberality, delightful social life, and
devoted attachment to the interests of the ancient town.
There is much that might be written of the founders, and
of the successive generations of this family, but no more
worthy tribute can be paid to their memory than that which
exists in the simple story of their lives as it has been known to
our townspeople for a hundred years. To this story is here
added such data as may be found in the family history, and in
papers and manuscript letters cordially furnished ' for these
pages by the present members of the Vaughan family.
The Vaughan family was of Welch origin. The ancestors
of the American branch of the Vaughan family emigrated to
Ireland where they became extensively engaged in mercantile
pursuits. The first recorded representative of this family, in
Ireland, had five children : William, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary,
and Sarah.
William Vaughan, the oldest child, was born in 1620, and
died August 19, 1699. He was then of Ballyboe, near
Clonmell, in Tipperary, Ireland ; and is on record as " Mer-
chant Adventurer for Irish Lands." This William Vaughan
married Mary Colsay, and had four children of whom the
youngest, Benjamin, was born April 28, 1679; married,
November 19, 1700, Ann Wolf ; and died February 2, 1741-2.
Benjamin and Ann Wolf Vaughan had twelve children.
Our interest to-day centers in the youngest of these children,
Samuel Fuer, who was born April 23, 1720. After attaining
his majority, Samuel Fuer Vaughan established himself as a
merchant in London. He became successful in his business
pursuits, and engaged in extensive commercial enterprises with
the West Indies and the American colonies. His business
interests brought him frequently to New England, and during
The Vaughan Family
75.
his occasional visits to Boston he met Miss Sarah Hallowell,
daughter of Benjamin Hallowell, one of the proprietors of
the Kennebec purchase, for whom the town Hallowell was
named.
Samuel Vaughan and Sarah Hallowell were united in
marriage, February i, 1747. Their home was in England ; but
they often made visits to the United States and to Jamaica
where Mr. Vaughan owned a large plantation. Mrs. Vaughan
is described as " a lady of great amiability of character, of much
active kindness and strong common sense." ^ She was born
February 26, 1727, and died in England, in 1809.
The children of Samuel and Sarah Hallowell Vaughan
were :
1. Benjamin, M. D., b. April 19, 1751; m. June 30, 1781,
Sarah Manning, b. April 20, 1753, d. Dec. 6, 1834.
Benjamin Vaughan d. Dec. 8, 1836.
2. William, b. Sept. 22, 1752; d. May 5, 1850.
3. Samuel, b. April 13, 1754; d. Aug. 1758.
4. John, b. Jan. 15, 1756; d. Dec. 13, 1842.
5. Ann, b. Oct. 24, 1757; m. 1784, John Darby, brother of
General and Admiral Darby; d. Dec. 9, 1847.
6. Charles, b. June 30, 1759; m. 1794, Frances Western
Apthorp; d. May 15, 1839.
7. Sarah, b. Feb. 18, 1761; d. Sept. 29, 1818.
8. Samuel, b. June 22, 1762; d. Dec. 4, 1802.
9. Barbara Eddy, b. Nov. 4. 1763.
10. Rebecca, b. April 26, 1766; m. April 10, 1798, John
Merrick; d. July 9, 1851.
11. Hannah, b. March 19, 1768; d. Jan. i, 1770/.
Mr. Samuel Vaughan, through his visits and travels in the
United States became much interested in our new political
institutions and form of government. He was a great admirer
of General Washington ; and in i "J^T-^^ as a token of personal
esteem, he presented to Washington the superb chimney-piece
which is now in the great hall at Mount Vernon.
This chimney-piece was made, by order of Mr. Vaughan^
I Robert Hallowell Gardiner. Me. Hist. Col. Vol. VI, p. 86.
76
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
in Italy, of the finest Syenite and Parian marbles. The mantle-
shelf is supported by two fluted Doric columns. The sculp-
tures on the three tablets beneath the shelf, represent scenes
in domestic country life : the farmer and his wife beneath an
oak tree, with sheep and one huge ox in the foreground; the
children drawing water from the well ; and a sturdy lad
standing beside the two farm horses and the plough. The
hearth in front of the chimney-piece is of white marble inlaid
with figures of a tasteful conventional design. The fire-place
beneath the mantle is very large; and has cast its glowing
light on many a brilliant assemblage in the great hall at Mount
Vernon.
A diary containing an account of the journey made by
Samuel Vaughan on horseback through Pennsylvania, Mary-
land and Virginia, when he went to visit Washington at Mount
Vernon is now in the possession of Mr. Benjamin Vaughan,
of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Benjamin Vaughan, the oldest son of Samuel and Sarah
Hallowell Vaughan, was born April 19, 175 1, in Jamaica,
during one of the visits of his parents to their estate on that
island. A pleasant glimpse of the boyhood of Benjamin is
given in the memoir of his brother, William Vaughan. This
brother became eminent in London through his writings upon
commercial, naval, and other topics of national importance.
He was Governor of the Royal Exchange Assurance Corpora-
ation, and an active member of numerous literary and philan-
thropic societies both in England and America. Among his
published works is a brief narrative of his early life and that of
his brother Benjamin, which is of especial interest to us to-day.
"My parents," writes William Vaughan, "were desirous
of giving their children a good and useful education ; and my
excellent mother paid great attention to their health, religion,
morals, and temper." Benjamin and his brother William
were placed at school at the Academy at Warrington, situated
between Liverpool and Manchester, where they " derived many
advantages from the various lectures on history, literature, and
The Vaughan Family
77
general knowledge." . . . "The Academy at Warrington, at
that period was held in great estimation from the reputation of
its tutors and the greater field they held out in promoting
general knowledge and science, in liberal principles, and in
many other pursuits not to be obtained in common Grammar-
schools. Dr. Aiken, the divinity tutor, was a man of great
reputation, and was the parent of Dr. John Aiken and Mrs.
Barbauld, whose literary works are well known to the public.
Dr. Priestly was another tutor distinguished for his amiable
character and kindness of manner as well as for his literary and
philosophical pursuits, and for his lectures on history."
Benjamin and William Vaughan had the good fortune to reside
in the house of Dr. Priestly, and ''derived very great
advantage from that circumstance."
My brother," continues Mr. William Vaughan, '' was
possessed of considerable talents and general knowledge, which
by perseverance made him conversant with philosophical
pursuits, and introduced him to the acquaintance of many
distinguished men. After leaving Warrington he went to
Cambridge, and thence t6 the Temple where he studied law,
and went subsequently to Edinburg where he studied medicine,
but never practiced either professionally. He was in Parlia-
ment for some time, and afterwards removed to America, and
resided many years at Hallowell, in the State of Maine, where
he continued his literary, scientific, and agricultural pur-
suits. . . . He was well acquainted with Sir Joseph Banks,
Mr. Cavendish, Dr. Price, Dr. Franklin, Sir Charles Blagden,
and Dr. Priestly, who, when he published his lectures on
History, in 1797, dedicated them to his pupil. His friendship
and connexions with Dr. Franklin were intin^ate and lasting,
particularly during the period when my brother was con-
fidentially employed to promote the negotiation of a peace
with America." '
This outline of the life of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan, from
the pen of his brother and the comrade of his youth, is a very
fitting introduction to the life of the maturer man as it was
^ Memoir of William Vaughan, pp. 4-7.
78
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
spent in Hallowell. We have now only to fill in the details of
the picture from the reminiscences of our own ancestors, and
such printed and manuscript records as are at this time
available.
The education of Dr. Vaughan at Cambridge was unique
from the fact that although he took the prescribed course of
study, he never matriculated at the university. This was on
account of Mr. Vaughan's religious views. Having been
brought up as a Unitarian, he could not conscientiously sub-
scribe to the thirty-nine articles required for matriculation.
He was therefore not admitted to any of the collegiate honors
but in other respects, had the same advantages as other
students."
Soon after leaving Cambridge, Mr. Vaughan became
private secretary to Lord Shelburne; and it was about this
time that he met and fell ardently in love with Miss Sarah
Manning, the beautiful daughter of William Manning, a
wealthy London merchant. The father of Miss Manning at
first refused his consent to the marriage of his daughter with
Mr. Vaughan because the latter had no profession or private
fortune. Mr. Vaughan therefore left London for Edinburg
where he studied medicine and obtained the degree of M. D.
from the university. With this as a pledge for the future,
Dr. Vaughan secured the hand of Miss Manning in marriage.
The wedding took place June 30, 1781 ; and, if the father of
the bride did not bestow upon the lover one half of his king-
dom — according to the custom in the old fairy tales — he did
make him a partner in his extensive and lucrative business, at
Billiter Square. In addition to this, the two fathers, Mr.
Manning and Mr. Samuel Vaughan, we are told, so generously
endowed the young couple that they had an independent
fortune upon which, like the prince and princess in the story-
book, they continued to live happily all the days of their life.
The family connections of Mrs. Vaughan brought her in
contact with many interesting people. Her father, William
Manning had a large circle of eminent and influential friends ;
her brother, William Manning, was Governor of the Bank of
England ; her nephew, Henry Edward Manning, was the
Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Vaughan
The Vaughan Family
79
celebrated Cardinal who seceded from the Church of England
to the Church of Rome ; one of her sisters married the famous
South Carolina patriot, John Laurens, who has been called the
" Bayard of the Revolution." Mrs. Laurens, however, never
came to America. Her young husband, who had been
educated in England, returned to his own country and entered
the army. He was the American Commissioner to Paris in
1 781; and soon after his successful negotiation of the French
loan, resumed his position in the Revolutionary ranks. He
was killed in the battle of Combahee ; and in that unfortunate .
skirmish America lost one of her noblest patriots and most
valiant sons. Washington said of Laurens : "He had not a
fault that I could discover unless it were an intrepidity border-
ing on rashness."
Other American friends of the Mannings were Henry
Laurens, the father of John Laurens, Benjamin Franklin, and
Archbishop Chevenes, with all of whom the Vaughans were
closely associated. It will thus be seen that while Mrs.
Benjamin Vaughan was allied by family ties to all that was
best in English life, she had, at the same time, become familiar,
through the American friends of her family, with the spirit of
American life; and when Dr. Vaughan decided to come to New
England for a permanent residence, she bravely set out with
her family for their new home on the banks of the Kennebec.
The political career of Dr. Vaughan in England and
France, is a matter of history, and yet very few of our people
of the present generation understand the important service
rendered by Dr. Vaughan in the establishment of peace
between our own country and Great Britain, at the close of the
Revolution. This is a story that should be indelibly engraven
upon the records of a town that proudly claims Benjamin
Vaughan as the most eminent of its founders.
At the close of the Revolution, Dr. Vaughan was the
personal friend of the American patriots, Henry and John
Laurens, of John Jay and Benjamin Franklin, our peace commis-
sioners at Paris in 1782, and also of Lord Shelburne, the prime
minister of England, under whom he had formerly served as
secretary. It therefore happened that, at the request of Lord
8o
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Shelburne, Dr. Vaughan went to Paris to consult with
Franklin and Jay in regard to peace negotiations, and spent a
whole year engaged in this mission. England at this critical
period was insisting on treating with our country as colonies,
while Jay declared that peace could not be made until the
colonies were recognized in the treaty as the United States of
America. No progress was therefore made in the negotiations
until Dr. Vaughan returned to England and by his personal
efforts convinced Lord Shelburne of the necessity of accepting
the terms proposed by the American commissioners. The
treaty was then completed; and Dr. Vaughan, at Lord
Shelburne's request, again set out for Paris, taking with him
the royal messenger who bore the new commission recognizing
in its wording the independence of the United States of
America. Our country therefore owes to Dr. Benjamin
Vaughan a perpetual debt of gratitude.
From 1783 to 1794, Dr. Vaughan resided in London, and
while engaged in active business also carried on his political
and scientific studies. He was closely associated with many
eminent men of the time, and frequently entertained in his own
home such men as Jeremy Bentham, Sheridan, Sir Samuel
Romilly, Grey, Wilberforce, M. de Narbonne, and the Bishop
of Autun. In 1792, he was returned to Parliament where he
remained nearly two years.
The political position of Dr. Vaughan has been very plainly
and authoritatively stated in a sketch in the American Encyclo-
pedia of Biography. From this article we learn that Dr.
Vaughan was " opposed to any attempt to disturb the existing
form of government in his own country, but as the French
Revolution developed, the popular tide in England set strongly
against those men who had shown sympathy with its earlier
stages, and more rigorous laws were demanded against those
suspected of sympathy with what were called Revolutionary
ideas. Vaughan, from his place in parliament was well known
to Pitt as one of the active opponents of his administration.
Under these circumstances he decided to leave England for
the continent until times had become settled, and accordingly
in 1794, he went to France and afterwards to Switzerland.
Dr. Benjamin Vaughan
The Vaughan Family
8i
While in France he was several times suspected of being an
English spy, and was obliged to live in close retirement. In
Switzerland he devoted himself to political correspondence and
literary pursuits. He was assured by Pitt that he could at any
time return to England with safety, but he had become so
much interested in republican principles that he determined to
live in the United States."
It was but natural, at this crisis, that the thoughts of
Dr. Vaughan should turn to the Kennebec Valley as the place
for an ideal home. His mother had inherited large estates in
Hallowell; his brother Charles had already made a home
in this promising new country; and to this favored spot
Dr. Vaughan determined to remove with his family and live
according to his own ideas of republican simplicity.
The family of Dr. Vaughan was at this time unable to
meet him in Paris on account of the war between France and
England. His wife and cTiildren therefore sailed for America
under the charge of Mr. John Merrick, a young Englishman,
at that time a tutor in Dr. Vaughan's family. On their arrival
at Boston, they were received by Mr. Charles Vaughan and
taken to Little Cambridge, now Brighton, where, eighteen
months later, they were joined by Dr. Vaughan and soon after
removed to their estate at Hallowell on the Kennebec.
The importance of the advent of the Vaughan family in
Hallowell has been previously stated. We already know
something of its effect upon the life and welfare of the early
settlers of the town; but there is another side to this old story;
and we wonder to-day what were the feelings of /this cultivated
English gentleman and his fair and delicately bred young wife
as they first set their feet within the wilderness of Maine, and
how they were impressed by their new neighbors and their
strange surroundings.
Fortunately a commodious and comfortable home had
been provided for the members of Dr. Vaughan's family some
time before their arrival. For several years previous to 1797,
Mr. Charles Vaughan had been engaged in clearing and culti-
82
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
vating the land, and had erected the mansion house that still
stands upon the Vaughan estate. In this new home Dr.
Vaughan established his household.
We can now easily fancy the weariness and discomforts of
a journey in those days from Boston to the Kennebec. A
sailing vessel brought the family to Merrymeeting Bay; then
Mr. Merrick and the children continued their journey by water
to Gardinerstown, from which place they reached Hallowell
by a foot-path through the forest. The oldest daughter being
an invalid was carried on a litter and thus had her first glimpse
of the autumnal glory of the woods of Maine. In the mean-
time Dr. and Mrs. Vaughan undertook to drive over the rude
forest road leading through Winthrop to Hallowell; and there
is nothing which brings us quite so closely in touch with the
brave little English lady on her way to her new home as a few
sentences written by her husband descriptive of their journey.
In one of the old family letters placed at my disposal I find
this paragraph written by Dr. Vaughan to his brother, in
September, 1797:
" Five days in this equinoctial season would have furnished light
enough to finishing our journey, but as it was we slept at Winthrop instead
of breakfasting' there. The lady's terrors were the cause, though she
behaved with courage on most occasions, and in particular by trusting
herself to me. The horse and chaise deserves commemoration also ;
though the former coughed now and then, and fell once or twice lame,
but I hope not permanently. . . . Had the lady shown her courage by
travelling all night, and suffered her husband to break her neck and his
own, she would have escaped reproaches and perhaps been commemo-
rated for a great fool." |
We thus perceive that the Lady of the Perilous Journey
was wise as well as witty ; and that, since her courage had been
sufficiently tested, she did not propose to perish in the forest
within one day's distance of the desired haven. We can also
easily fancy the pleasure with which ''the lady" alighted from
the uncomfortable old chaise at the door of her new home and
gazed for the first time upon the beautiful Kennebec set
between its banks of gorgeous coloring on that September day
of the year 1797.
The home to which Dr. Vaughan had brought his family
Mrs, Sarah Manning Vaughan
The Vaughan Family
83
was really a palatial residence for the place and period. The
house was a large, square, two-story edifice, with a long
veranda on the southern side, and a spacious wing extending
to the north. It stood on an eminence commanding a fine
viev\^ of the river, and was surrounded by groups of great oaks,
and pines, and other ancient trees. Beyond was the unbroken
forest; and yet visions of smooth lawns, green-houses, and
fruitful gardens immediately arose in the minds of the new
possessors of this domain; and these visions were speedily
realized.
Very soon after his arrival. Dr. Vaughan writes to his
brother of his plan to bring water to the house "by means of
pipes coming from a reservoir to be made at the spring-house;"
of a winding avenue for carriages from the main road to the
house; of a garden ^'having a terrace to divide it into an upper
and lower part, or into a vegetable and fruit part;" and in the
same letter, Dr. Vaughan orders ''several thousand slips of
white currant trees" for this garden. All of these improve-
ments were soon made, and the Vaughan garden became the
wonder and admiration of the whole neighborhood.
A description of the view from this garden written by one
v/ho was familiar with the place not many years after the
coming of Dr. Vaughan, will bring the scene very vividly to our
sight :
''The Vaughan garden lay in the midst of a landscape of
surpassing beauty. It rose gradually from the entrance gate
near the house, until in ascending the walk you found yourself
on the height of a declivity at the verge of tall woods in a
summerhouse; from this airy resting place there was a magnifi-
cent view of the village, distant hills, and the g^entle waters of
the Kennebec. . . . Near the spot were mowing-fields, and
pastures with cattle grazing, and some shady oaks yet spared
by the Goths in their clearings. . . . Behind the summer-
house loom.ed up a steep mountain deeply wooded, and between
them was a precipitous ravine or narrow glen through which a
powerful stream ran headlong from ledge to ledge, beneath
dark shadows of tall trees, until it leaped down like a miniature
cataract and formed a pretty basin where we sometimes caught
84
Old Hallowell on the Ke^mebec
a trout or two. . . . This remarkable waterfall was called the
* Cascade,' accessible by a winding path down the steep, and its
murmur could be heard from the summerhouse in the stillness
of the evening." ^
The interior of the Vaughan house was arranged in a
manner that must have seemed luxurious to the residents of
Hallowell at this early period; for, as Dr. Vaughan writes, ''an
English family cannot easily submit to the privations of ancient
comforts in cases where the continuance of them is easily to be
managed." The rooms were spacious and sunshiny; and in
one of the front parlors, the windows had been cut down to the
floor, in order to give a better view of the river. Dr. Vaughan,
in one of his letters to his brother expresses regret that this has
been done, on account of the coldness of the Maine climate in
winter; but Mrs. Vaughan interpolates an "N. B." saying "/
am much obliged by the attention."
Each of the rooms had a large fire-place, and the great
blazing wood fires kept the whole house aglow with light and
warmth. These fire-places are now bordered with quaint
Dutch tiles whose pictures tell many curious tales to the guests
who sit around the hearthstones in the old Vaughan mansion.
The furnishings of the house were brought from England;
and the high-posted, canopied bedsteads, the huge, carved
clothes-presses and chests of drawers, the antique mirrors and
quaint silver candle-sticks, the inlaid writing-desks, the ancient
chairs, tables, and sideboard, and the tall ancestral clock, all
stand as they were first placed in this old home.
In the dining-room is the antique samovar of ebony, with
silver mountings, in which the water was made to boil by
plunging into it a bar of red-hot iron. In the cabinets are the
rare old cups and saucers in which the lady of the mansion
served the fragrant tea to the ever welcome guest ; and on the
sideboard is a case of rosewood, ornamented with silver, that
contains a curious set of knives and forks of steel, with handles
of white and blue porcelain.
It is said that when Dr. Vaughan came to Hallowell he
I John H. Sheppard, N. E. Gen. Reg. Vol. XIX, p. 350.
The Vaughan Family
85
left nearly all of the family silver to be sold in London, think-
ing that if he used it in America it would encourage extrava-
gant ideas of living in this nev/ country. He brought with him,
however, a collection of rare old china and sets of Wedgewood
and blue Canton ware. One beautiful set of china bearing the
Vaughan monogram and also some of the Vaughan silver
inherited by Mrs. Lucy Vaughan Emmons, were destroyed by
fire when the Emmons house was burned.
Still more interesting and valuable are the family portraits
which now hang on the walls of the Vaughan mansion. In
one of the parlors there is a fine portrait of Samuel Vaughan,
father of Dr. Benjamin; and in the octagon room there is a
large picture of the Vaughan family, painted in London in
1754. It represents Mrs. Sarah Hallowell Vaughan, as a
central figure, holding her son Samuel in her lap, with
Benjamin at her side, and little William on the floor playing
with a dog. Mr. Samuel Vaughan stands in a graceful and
dignified attitude at the left.
Other valuable pictures are the portraits of the celebrated
Dr. Priestly and his wife, and of William Manning, Governor
of the Bank of London. Most interesting and delightful of
all, are the faces of Dr. Benjamin and Mrs. Vaughan which
still look down upon us from their frames with an expression
of cordial, old-time hospitality.
Mrs. Vaughan is said by one who knew her to have been
"a very handsome, elegant, and accomplished lady;" ^ and the
portrait representing her in her more advanced years, shows a
beautiful svv^eet-faced woman, wearing a cap and kerchief of
filmy lace.
Another personal souvenir of Mrs. Benjamin Vaughan is
the pair of "pattens," or wooden shoes, having two bridge-like
pieces of wood to lift them from the ground, and straps of
black velvet to fasten them over the foot. These the little
lady undoubtedly wore in damp weather when she went to call
on her daughter, Mrs. Emmons, or her sister-in-law, Mrs.
Merrick, at the old Merrick homestead.
^ Hon. John H. Sheppard.
86
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Other quaint and curious things which the Vaughans
brought from England were the two sun dials which for more
than a century have marked the passing hours; and the oval
shaped door-plate marked ''B. Vaughan," which once had a
place at the entrance of their London home; and a writing-
desk, painted with flowers by the hand of Mrs. John Laurens,
the sister of Mrs. Vaughan.
Most notable of all is the library of Dr. Vaughan which, at
the time of his coming to Hallowell, was the largest collection
of books in New England, with the exception of that of
Harvard College. This library contained over ten thousand
volumes, and included works on history, science, philosophy,
and literature. Many of the books are still kept at the
Vaughan homestead. The medical works, which were very
rare and valuable, were bequeathed to the Insane Hospital at
Augusta; other books were donated to Bowdoin college; but
the greater part of the library is now in the possession of
Dr. Vaughan's descendants in Cambridge and Boston.
Dr. Vaughan was himself a most scholarly and learned
man. It has been said of him that " his knowledge was always
at command and no subject could be introduced into conversa-
tion upon which he would not give additional information.
From this very extensive knowledge and ready power of
producing it, he has been called a walking encyclopedia." ^
But Dr. Vaughan was not only learned in the works of
others; he was himself a thinker and writer. He was the
author of numerous political, philosophical, and scientific
papers, and of several historical treatises which he wrote at
the special request of President Adams. His most important
work was entitled "The Rural Socrates;" and was an account
of a celebrated philosophical farmer living in Switzerland and
known by the name of Kilyogg. The book bears the imprint
of Peter Edes of Hallowell, A. D. iSoo. Mr. Vaughan also
collected and published "The Political, Miscellaneous, and
Philosophical Essays of Dr. Benjamin Franklin;" and edited a
memoir of Dr. Franklin.
Robert Hallowell Gardiner.
The Vaughan Family
87
Dr. Vaughan was one of the founders of the Maine
Historical Society and was a member of numerous literary
and scientific societies, both in this country and Europe. The
degree of LL. D. was bestowed upon him by Harvard College
in 1 80 1, and by Bowdoin College, in 181 2.
Although educated for the profession of medicine, Dr.
Vaughan did not practice as a regular physician, but was con-
stantly called upon to consult with other doctors in serious
cases. He always gave his advice and services gratuitously.
He visited the poor without charge, and furnished them not
only with medicines, but often with nourishing food, and with
fruit and other delicacies from his garden.
In the year 181 1, the terrible epidemic known as the
" spotted fever" prevailed in New England. Hallowell did
not escape the dread disease ; and during its prevalance here.
Dr. Vaughan used his utmost efforts to check its progress, and
save the lives of the people. At one time, when Dr. Page, the
eminent and successful physician of Hallowell, was summoned
to aid the suffering inhabitants of Wiscasset, Dr. Vaughan
voluntarily assumed the care of the numerous cases of spotted
fever in Hallowell, until the return of Dr. Page.
Many stories of the benevolences, generosity, and neigh-
borly kindness of Dr. Vaughan have come down to us in the
tales of the ''good old times" which our grandparents have
told us ; but I can give no more fitting ending to this sketch of
the early benefactor of Hallowell than the tribute of Mr. Johrk
H. Sheppard who writes from his own knowledge and memory
of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan:
''The influence a man of fortune, learning, and piety
may exert in a country village is incalculable. . . . Such a man
was the 'magnate of the place.' Every man, woman, and
child looked up to him, as it were, to a superior being. To hijn
strangers sought an introduction. His doo^ was ever open to
hospitality. In short, he was the Genius Loci, the spirit of the
spot. It was eminently so in Hallowell during Dr. Vaughan's
life. In religion, education, gardening, agriculture, and love of
reading, he gave a healthy tone to society. Ever sociable,
meek, yet dignified in his address, willing to impart his exten-
88
Old Halloivell on the Kennebec
sive knowledge to others, and at all times ready to visit the
sick and relieve the poor and needy, he was greatly beloved.
His life is a striking instance that every town and village must
have a head to look up to, some man of moral power and influ-
ence, like a sun shining on the top of a mountain, radiating its
beams in every direction, and leading the thoughts heavenward
by his good works. Dr. Vaughan was not tall, yet he was of
medium height; in body well-proportioned and full; of an
elegant form; his hair had early turned into the white locks of
age ; his eye was of a dark blue, clear and mild ; his nose
aquiline; each feature strongly marked, and expressive; and
when he smiled, it drew all hearts towards him, for it was the
reflection of the goodness within. He dressed in the dignified
costume of the Old School, and was particularly neat in his
apparel. He rode a horse remarkably well, and from his easy
and graceful motions he must have been a graceful dancer in
his youth. He wrote a peculiar hand and with great rapidity,
and composed with fluency and readiness. He carried on a
vast correspondence with friends in this country and abroad,
and at home he always seemed reading or writing. In the
winter evenings you would find him at a small writing table by
the side of a sparkling wood fire, busily employed like Prospero
in the kingdom of his books, unless called off by some
stranger; while his charming family entertained their usual
company with whom he would often mingle in conversation.
His very presence gave to the domestic circle that indescribable
charm, which like a halo surrounds a person of talents and
profound learning.
"The close of Dr. Vaughan's life was at the golden age of
eighty-five. He had scarcely ever known sickness, nor were
the powers of his mind impaired. Always master of himself,
he preserved his cheerfulness to the last. So calm, so serene,
so simple in his habits, so unselfish, so delicate in his own
feelings and considerate of the feelings of others, a worshiper
of God without ostentation in his family, and ever ready to do
good to his neighbor, this Christian Philosopher was not only
one of the best of citizens, but I must say, the happiest man I
ever saw. It seemed as though that divine passage of St.
The Vaughan Family
89
Paul was always present to his mind: 'Finally, brethren,
whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, what-
soever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatso-
ever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue, if there
be any praise, think on these things.' And he did think on
these things. They were the cardinal points of the compass
which regulated his voyage of life, and at the end I doubt not
he viewed death as a kind messenger from above." ^
Dr. Benjamin Vaughan died December 8, 1836, and was
interred in the family burial ground on the Vaughan estate in
Hallo well.
Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Vaughan had a family of seven
children. These children were all educated in the Vaughan
home where they had great advantages from constant inter-
course with refined society and from the instruction of accomp-
lished and learned teachers. The first of these teachers was
the scholarly John Merrick; the second was George Barron,
said to be "an adept in the exact sciences;" and the third
was William Wells, a Cambridge graduate of ripe scholarship.
The teacher of French and dancing was Monsieur Lebell of
Paris. This highly educated and cultured Frenchman was also
an excellent violinist. Mr. Sheppard said of him: 'T never
heard anyone, save Ole Bull, draw a softer, sweeter bow on the
violin." Under the tuition of Monsieur Lebell, Mr. Vaughan's
children all became fine French scholars. Sarah, the third
daughter, had exceptional talent for drawing and painting,
especially of birds and flowers, and assisted Audubon in color-
ing the illustrations of his famous book on birds. Lucy, a
younger daughter, was skillful in drawing with crayons.
The subsequent life-story of this family of favored and
gifted children is of much interest to us to-d^y, but must here
be briefly told. Harriet Manr^ing, the oldest daughter, born
November 11, 1782, was an invalid, with an affection of the
spine. Her death, in early girlhood, December 15, 1798, at the
I Collections. Mass. Hist. Soc, Vol. XIX, p. 3S4.
go
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
age of sixteen, was the first great grief that came to the
Vaughan family in their new home on the Kennebec. WiUiam
Oliver, born November 5, 1783, became an enterprising
merchant and ship-owner, and a public-spirited and influential
citizen. Through him, the name and estate of the Vaughan
family have been perpetuated in Hallowell.
Miss Sarah Vaughan, born February 28, 1784, is described
as "a lady of small but graceful form and of highly cultivated
mind." Like her mother, she was most charitable, and greatly
interested in the care of the poor and sick in Hallowell. It is
related that, on one occasion, she went to visit a very worthy
woman who had seen better days, but who was then living in
great destitution. Miss Sarah inquired what was most needed
at that time, and was somewhat surprised when the destitute
womian replied that she wished some one would bring her a
French dictionary as she did not wish "to lose her accent."
Miss Sarah Vaughan died March 25, 1847, while on a visit
to Boston, and was buried under Trinity Church.
Flenry Vaughan was a young man ''of promising" talents
and manly figure." His engaging disposition and tender
thoughtfulness for his mother's feeling, are disclosed in the fol-
lowing letter which he wrote at Cambridge on the eve of
his departure for a visit to England in 1801 :
"You wished to know how we were, I am sorry to hear that you
were uneasy about me, for I had only a headache, from being roused up
at that time of night, but I was perfectly well for when we got down to
Merrymeeting bay I walked from there to Bath without any inconven-
ience though the road went a great way round and it was a very hot
day ; I walked there in an hour and a half; to convince you that I had
not lost my appetite I tell that every morning and evening I had a
quart of thick chocolate and bread and ham in proportion three times a
day when the doctor allowed it. After hearing this I trust you will
not make yourself uneasy. We go into town to-night and from there
tomorrow or next day therefore most probably will not hear from us
again on this side of the water."
To his father, Flenry writes that they are going to Liver-
pool in the ship Eliza, "a new vessel that has never been out
to sea." He adds as a bit of news: "I have seen Mr. Wells
several times he keeps a school in Boston he has left off his
The Vaughan Family
91
black coat." This is evidently a reference to Mr. William
Wells, previously a tutor in the Vaughan family.
Henry Vaughan had a fortunate passage on the new ship
Eliza, and returned in safety from his voyage to England. A
brilliant and happy future was anticipated for this noble and
promising young man. It is therefore sad to record the
melancholy and untimely fate that awaited him. Only a few
years after his return from London, he made another trip, with
his elder brother, William Oliver, on a trading vessel to the
West Indies, and on the homeward voyage was washed over-
board and drowned, April 14, 1806.
Petty Vaughan, born October i, 1783, was named for his
father's friend, Henry Petty, Earl of Shelburne and Prime
Minister of England. In his youth. Petty Vaughan was sent
to London to become associated in business with his uncle
William Vaughan, with whose interests he was afterwards
closely identified. He was a member of the American
Philosophical Society, and connected with prominent com-
mercial and philanthropic organizations in England. He died,'
unmarried, in London, July 30, 1854.
Lucy Vaughan, born November 4, 1790, married Judge
Williams Emmons, and resided in Hallowell where she was
greatly beloved and respected. She died March 18, 1869.
Elizabeth P'rances, born June 6, 1793, married Samuel
Grant, a wealthy merchant of Gardiner, and died June 12, 1855.
Her oldest daughter, Ellen Grant, married Hon. John Otis of
Hallowell; her youngest daughter, Louisa Lithgow Grant,
married, November 19, 1850, Hon. Alfred Gilmore. Their
children are: Alfred, Frances Vaughan, Chnton Grant, and
Louisa Lithgow.
Colonel William Oliver Vaughan, oldest son of Dr.
Benjamin Vaughan, married, September 14, 1806, Martha,
daughter of Captain Thomas Agry, and rq'sided in Hallowell
until his death, August 15, 1825. He was actively engaged in
shipping, and in commercial and agricultural pursuits. He
ahvays manifested a sincere interest in the welfare of the town,
and exerted his utmost influence for its prosperity. During
his business career, he engaged extensively in the West India
92
Old Hallozvell on the Kennebec
trade, and owned two brigs and the ship Superior. These
vessels were sent out laden with lumber and oak staves, and
brought back in return, sugar, molasses, and other commodities
for sale on the Kennebec.
Colonel Vaughan also had the care and management of
Vaughan farm with the exception of the orchards and gardens
which were under the charge of a professional English
gardener. He purchased the grist mill built by his uncle
Charles Vaughan, and manufactured flour of a quality superior
to any other made in this section of the country. He was also
concerned in the importation of cattle of superior breeds ; and,
in connection with Mr. Charles Vaughan, did much for the
improvement of stock raised by the farmers of the town and
county.
As commander of a regiment of militia, in the days when
the military spirit was at its height, Colonel Vaughan attained
much distinction. He first served as Captain of the ''South
Company" of Hallowell; and in the fall of 1814, when, the
troops were all called out to go to Wiscasset to prevent the
landing of the British troops from the gunship La Hogue, then
threatening the coast, his company was pronounced the finest
and best drilled in the state. Its ranks were always full ; and
every man had his scrupulously white belt crossed in Revolu-
tionary style, thus giving the company an appearance easily
distinguishable from others on the field. On muster days the
company always dined at the expense of the captain.
Colonel Vaughan's military ardor and devotion to his men
continued to increase after he was placed at the head of the
regiment. One of our most esteemed local historians, who
remembers the famous old training days, tells us that
Colonel Vaughan infused new life into the ranks; that he
provided a splendid band of music for the regiment, and an
elegant marquee for the entertainment of the officers and their
guests. Colonel Vaughan, in character and bearing, was an
ideal exponent of the military spirit of his time. Even after
his health failed and he was obliged to resign his command,
his interest in his regiment continued unabated. "When he
had become so feeble as only to be able to ride out on pleasant
The Vaughan Family
93
days, on the occasion of a regimental muster he was seen to
ride slowly the whole length of the line on Second street, as if
to take a last look upon his men. The sadness of his counte-
nance betokened the deep feeling he had at the thought that he
was looking upon them for the last time."
Colonel William Oliver Vaughan died August 15, 1825; his
wife, Martha Agry Vaughan, died March, 1856. Of the nine
children of Colonel Vaughan, six died in early life. The oldest
daughter, Harriet Frances was the first v/ife of Hon. John
Otis ; the youngest daughter, Caroline, married Frederic, son
of Robert Hallowell Gardiner.
William Manning Vaughan, the oldest son of Colonel
William Oliver Vaughan, was born at Hallowell, June 10, 1807.
He fitted for college at Dr. Packard's school at Wiscasset, and
entered Bowdoin with the class of 1827. In his senior year,
Mr. Vaughan was obliged to leave college on account of the
death of his father; and soon after went on a three years'
cruise, as supercargo on a vessel, to the East and West Indies.
After returning to Hallowell, he married Miss Anne Warren,
daughter of Hon. Ebenezer Warren, and made his home for a
time in the cottage on the Vaughan estate. He was, for some
years, cashier of the Hallowell Bank; and afterwards was
connected with Robert Hallowell Gardiner in the flouring mill
business. In 1854, he established himself in business in
Boston and made a permanent home in Cambridge. After
retiring from active business life, Mr. Vaughan became
engaged in philanthropic work, and founded the Cambridge
Social Union of which he was the honored president for many
years. Like his father and grandfather, Mr. William Manning
Vaughan was a loyal friend and generous benefactor of his
native town. Here, as in the city of his adoption, he was
honored and beloved; and on his death, in 1 891, he left many
to mourn the loss of a true friend and of a public-spirited and
philanthropic fellow-citizen.
Mrs. William Manning Vaughan was, in her girlhood, the
httle ''Miss Anne Warren" for whom the "splendid ball" was
given in the old Warren mansion in Hallowell. Born and bred
in the spirit of the old-time social life of her native town, she
94
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
was eminently fitted to become the mistress of the Vaughan
home in Cambridge where, for so many years, she dispensed a
most gracious hospitaUty.
The children of William Manning and Anne Warren
Vaughan are Benjamin and William Warren Vaughan.
Mr. Benjamin Vaughan married Anna Goodwin, daughter
of Daniel Raynes Goodwin, D. D., of Philadelphia. They have
two children, Bertha Hallowell Vaughan and Henry Goodwin
Vaughan. Mr. William Warren Vaughan married Ellen
Twistleton Parkman, daughter of Dr. Samuel and Mary
D wight Parkman of Boston. The children of this marriage
are Mary Eliot Vaughan and Samuel Vaughan.
Much that has been written of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan, is
equally applicable to his brother Charles Vaughan, Esq., in
whom we find a typical English gentleman, of courteous
address, extensive reading, benevolent disposition, and com-
mendable public spirit. But while Dr. Benjamin Vaughan may
be especially characterized as a student and philosopher,
Charles Vaughan was preeminently a man of action with
indomitable energy and large capacity for business affairs.
He came to Hallowell as early as 1791, and "formed magnifi-
cent plans to make that town, then only a small village, the
head of navigation and commerce for the Kennebec."
No one who has traced the early growth and prosperity of
Hallowell can fail to discern the direct influence of Charles
Vaughan, and the results of his energetic and enthusiastic
business efforts. The very fact of his coming to Hallowell
gave a quick and healthy stimulus to the town. It is stated
by Mr. William Allen, the Norridgewock historian, that ''when
it became known that the Vaughans were to settle here, high
expectations were excited throughout the country even to the
extreme settlements on the Sandy river. . . . Men of
influence from the best towns, far and near, ship-builders,
ship-owners, merchants, and traders, men of all professions,
skillful mechanics, and industrious workmen, came in throngs
to the place, some to erect buildings and engage in trade and
Chari.i:s Vaughan, Esq.
The Vaughan Family
95
navigation and some to find employment. The place increased
rapidly in wealth and numbers."
"Mr. Vaughan," writes Mr. Allen, "built the wharf at the
Hook, and a store and warehouses, and a brewery, with the
hope that beer might be used mstead of ardent spirits, and
improve the habits of the intemperate, but he failed to accom-
plish his object. He employed a great number of men, built
work shops and dwelling houses for the accommodation of his
workmen, built a house and barn and put in order a farm for
his homestead, a pleasant situation half a mile back, cleared up
a large farm two miles back from the river, stocked it with the
best breeds of animals, importing some from England which
were highly recommended in English publications, . . . pro-
cured a skilful English farmer to take the oversight of his
farm, Samuel Stantial, who planted an orchard of choice fruit,
made a fine garden, and kept everything in the neatest order,
exceeding anything I had ever seen before, when I visited him
in 1807. His English cherry trees were just beginning to bear
and look beautifully. We saw a large box of scions which the
day before had been received after a two month's passage from
Liverpool. . . . Mr. Vaughan spared no expense to promote
the agricultural interests of the country; did more than any
other individual, before any agricultural society was formed in
the state, to improve the breed of stock and swine and to
furnish scions to improve our orchards. The farmers not only
in Hallowell, Winthrop, and Readfield, were greatly benefitted
by his efforts but some at a distance of fifty miles where I have
seen the best stock and swine and the best apples to be found
in the state, as a result of his efforts." '
Mr. Vaughan was also actively and keenly interested in all
the educational and religious movements of the town. He was
one of the founders and trustees of the Hallo,well Academy and
did much to establish and promote the success of that institu-
tion. He was a generous supporter of the Old South church
and a constant attendant at its services. It has been fittingly
said that "it was his greatest desire to do good, and never was
he more happy than when he conferred happiness upon others."
I Col. Me. Hist. Soc. Vol. VIII, p. 278.
96 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Mr. Charles Vaughan married, in 1774, Frances Western
Apthorp, daughter of John Apthorp of Boston. Mrs. Vaughan
was a very beautiful woman with rare qualities of mind and
character. In her girlhood she had enjoyed unusual educational
and social advantages in her home-life and in travel with other
members of the Apthorp family. She was the sister of Hannah
Apthorp, wife of Charles Bulfinch, the eminent architect, and
mother of Thomas Bulfinch, author of The Age of Fable. A
charming description of the early life of Frances and Hannah
Apthorp in their Boston home, and of their journey to Phila-
delphia to witness the inauguration of Washington is given
by Miss Ellen Susan Bulfinch in her Life and Letters of
Charles Btilfinch, Architect.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Vaughan resided for a while in the
old mill house near the Vaughan stream. It was there that
they entertained Talleyrand and the young Frenchman who
was supposed to be Louis Philippe, afterwards King of France.
A few years later Mr. Vaughan erected the house on the
Vaughan road, now the home of the French family. This
house, as originally built by Mr. Vaughan, was an attractive
story and a half cottage, of ample dimensions and very
spacious on the ground floor. Although the house has been
remodeled, it still retains its broad stone hearths, its old-
time m.antle-pieces, quaint cup-boards, and other features of its
original design.
This house was always the abode of good cheer and genuine
hospitality. The influence of the refined, simple, and idyllic
home life that went on for many years within its walls, was
felt throughout a large circle of friends and neighbors. In
simplicity, in courtesy, in kindly cheer, and in the unaffected
enjoyment of music, art, and literature as daily elements of
life, the inmates of the Vaughan home set an example that
gave an ideal tone to society in Hallowell.
The children of Charles and Frances Apthorp Vaughan
were:
I. John Apthorp, b. October 13, 1795; m. August 22, 1826,
Harriet Merrick; d. June 5, 1865.
Mrs. FrancEvS Apthorp Vaughan
The Vaughan Family
97
2. Harriet, b. April 15, 1802; m. May 18, 1828, Rev. Jacob
Abbott; d. September 11, 1843.
3. Charles, b. November i, 1804; m. July 19, 1832, Mary
Susan Abbot; d. February 6, 1878.
4. Hannah Frances, b. January 20, 181 2; m. 1836, Rev.
Seth Sweetser; d. May 10, 1855.
The Rev. John Apthorp Vaughan, son of Charles and
Frances Apthorp Vaughan, was a worthy representative of this
eminent family. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 181 5,
and later in life received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from
Columbia College. In his early manhood he was the beloved
and revered teacher of the Female Academy in Hallowell.
He subsequently took orders in the Episcopal Church. On
his death in Philadelphia in 1865, The Episcopal Recorder
closed a tribute to his memory in these words : "To this holy
man the Church of the Mediator owes a large debt of gratitude.
He was the friend, father, and benefactor of it. He was a
generous, self-denying soldier of the Cross, the first rector of
that church, and much lamented at his death."
Mr. Charles Vaughan, the second son of Charles and
Frances Apthorp Vaughan, perpetuated the traditions and
customs of his father's family, and cherished through life
a warm regard for the home of his childhood. He was
one of the earliest and most liberal benefactors of the
Social Library, and was interested in all that promoted the
welfare of his native town. Pleasant and grateful memories of
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Vaughan will long be preserved in
Hallowell.
The Vaughan family is now represented in Hallowell by
the two brothers, Benjamin and William Warren Vaughan, who
are the lineal descendants of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan and the
present owners of the Vaughan estate. During the summer
season the families of Benjamin and William Vaughan occupy
the old mansion house upon the Vaughan estate, and maintain
an ideal hospitality in the same spirit in which it was established
by their ancestors a hundred years ago.
98 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Of the devoted attachment of the Vaughan family to the
old town and of their continued interest in its welfare, it is not
necessary to speak. There are visible evidences of this in their
numerous and generous public benefactions. The library has
many generous bequests from their hands. The granite
drinking fountains at the northern and southern ends of the
business street are the expression of their thoughtful benefi-
cence; and the massive granite bridge upon the Vaughan road,
which was presented to the city of Hallowell, in 1905, by
Benjamin and William Warren Vaughan in remembrance of
their father, William Manning Vaughan, will remain for untold
generations a monument, in enduring stone, to the loyalty and
munificence of the House of Vaughan.
VIII
JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.
"His was a noble mind, a noble heart, and a noble life. His faults
were few; his enemies none." — D. R. Goodwin, D. D.
HE name of John Merrick is closely associated with
that of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan and of Charles Vaughan,
Esq. These first representatives of the Merrick and
Vaughan families in Hallowell came from England at
about the same time and settled side by side on the banks of
the Kennebec. Their families were intimately connected by
intermarriage and personal associations. They had many
important characteristics in common. Their essential prin-
ciples, their views of life, and their manner of living were
very similar; yet each of the founders of these families had a
marked individuality, and in the character of no one of them
does this individuality stand out with more prominence than in
that of John Merrick.
Mr. Merrick's contemporaries all agree in the assertion
that he was a remarkable man. He came to Hallowell in his
early manhood, and went in and out among our people, living
an open, blameless life, until he reached the extreme and
honored age of ninety-five years. Gifted in an unusual and
varied degree, and imbued with the most lofty ideals, he was
nevertheless very sane and practical in the administration of
affairs, and presents to us the type of an honest, judicial, and
useful citizen whose influence constantly made for the up-
lifting of the community in which he dwelt. ,
A Memoir of John MenHck^ Esq., w^ritten by D. R.
Goodwin, D. D., Provost of the University of Pennsylvania,
most worthily portrays the life and character of this eminent
early resident of Hallowell; and to this Memoir, I am
indebted for much of the material included in this sketch.
The Merrick family was of Welch origin and can be traced
100
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
back to the days of King John. The name has been spelled in
various ways from the Meuric, Meyric, Meric, or Merick of the
earlier generations to the Merrick of the present day. One
of the members of this family, named Meuric, was ''esquire
to the body of Henry VII, and captain of the guard to
Henry VIII." A grandson of this Meuric, and an ancestor
of John Merrick of Hallowell, was Sir Gelly Meyric, or Meric,
of Pembroke, Knight of the Shire in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth.
Mr. John Merrick was born in London, August 27, 1766.
He was the son of Samuel Merrick who died in 1767, leaving
his young wife with two children, Samuel and John. Mrs.
Mary Merrick, the widow of Samuel Merrick, married Mr.
William Roberts of Kidderminster, who became a faithful
father to these two boys. The elder brother, Samuel, being
strong and active, was educated for a merchant; but the
younger brother, John, having a more delicate constitution,
was designed for the ministry. He received a thorough
classical training during his course of eight years in the
Grammar School at Kidderminster, and afterwards studied
divinity under the celebrated Dr. Belsham by whose liberal
theological views John Merrick was strongly influenced in his
earlier years.
Having completed his divinity course, Mr. Merrick
preached as a licentiate for two years at Stamford, but was
never ordained to the ministry. From 1794 to 1797, he resided
with the family of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan, in the capacity
of tutor; and in 1795 he accompanied Mrs. Vaughan and her
children to New England and spent fifteen months with them
in Little Cambridge before coming with the family to
Hallowell.
In 1797, Mr. Merrick returned to England where, in April,
1798, he married Rebecca Vaughan, daughter of Samuel
Vaughan, and sister of Dr. Benjamin and Charles Vaughan,
and brought his bride at once to Hallowell. Here he built
and occupied the spacious cottage which stands upon one of
the most beautiful sites in the town, and which is still known
as the Merrick Cottage. At the time of his coming to
John Merrick, Eso.
John Merrick i Esq.
lOI
Hallowell, the village was rapidly increasing in population;
and Mr. Merrick entered most heartily into the spirit of the
place and devoted all his energies to the promotion of the
public welfare. He was especially interested in the cause of
education. In 1802, he was appointed one of the trustees
of the Hallowell Academy; and for the remainder of his long
life, he devoted himself to the interests of this school. "He
exerted himself in enlarging and husbanding the resources of
the institution, in securing the best instruction, in aiding and
encouraging the preceptors, in attending examinations, and in
stimulating the intellectual energies, and the manlier and finer
feelings of the students by his instructive, exciting, and genial
exhortations." He was made president of the board of
trustees in 1829, and continued in this post until his death.
Mr. Merrick was also a member of the board of overseers of
Bowdoin College from 1805 to 1851.
In the affairs of the town, with which he had cast his lot,
Mr. Merrick showed himself a truly loyal and public-spirited
citizen. He served ably and conscientiously as selectman, as
surveyor of highways, and as overseer of the poor. He was
also for some years cashier of the Hallowell Bank. He was
exact and honorable in all of his business dealings and com-
manded the highest esteem and confidence of his fellow
townsmen.
In 1 810, a project was started for the opening of a road
from the Kennebec to the Chaudiere and thence to Quebec,
which, it was thought, would greatly increase the business of
this region and open an avenue from the Atlantic to Canada.
This was the dream that allured the minds of all of our early
settlers; the vision that dazzled their imagination, aroused
their ambition, and led them to look forward to a most success-
ful future for the little town on the Kennebec. The plan
seemed at the time most feasible and practicable. On March
8, 1 810, a board of commissioners was appointed by Governor
Gore to examine this route and report upon its condition and
the probable success of the undertaking. Mr. John Merrick
was appointed a member of this commission.
Mr. Merrick entered upon this work with the energy and
102
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
enthusiasm that characterized all of his efforts, whether in
pubUc or private life; and the story of his journey to Quebec
over the old trail of the Abenaki Indians, is one of peril, hard-
ship, adventure, and exciting interest.
The party consisted of the three commissioners, a sur-
veyor, an Indian guide, and several men to carry the luggage
and provisions. Mr. Merrick also took with him a young man
from Hallowell, named David Morgan, as a personal attendant.
"When they , reached the Canada line, the two other
commissioners, alleging that they had completed the work
assigned them by the General Court, took the surveyor, the
assistants, and the provisions with them, and returned ; leaving
Mr. Merrick, with Morgan and the Indian guide, to go on to
Quebec, assuring him that he need take no food with him for
his return through the wilderness, as they would deposit an
abundant supply on the way. Arrived at Quebec, the
Governor invited him to dine, and ride with the ladies
to Montmorenci. For a catastrophe so unexpected he was
quite unprepared, being only in his rough camping dress,
fresh from the wood. So he called on a French house to put
him in trim, suggesting a white shirt, at which Monsieur
shrugged, — a collar and bosom were all the case required." '
"After a week in Quebec, business being in train, the
three again took to the bush. But, on reaching the place of
the promised deposit, they found to their consternation that no
provisions had been left for them. ... As it was, a few cakes
of portable soup and a few beans were all their store for a
tramp of several days through the wilderness. The Indian
left soon after, refusing to touch a particle of their scanty
supply. 'No, no; give me the fish-hook; me Indian.' So
in consideration of his own superior resources in difficult
circumstances, he had pity for the poor white man." ^
The results of this expedition were not such as were
desired and ardently hoped for by the inhabitants of the
Kennebec valley. The reasons for this are explained in the
^ Memoir of John Merrick^ Esq., pp. 16-17.
^ Memoir of John Merrick, Esq., p. 18.
John Merrick, Esq.
103
following extract from a document furnished by Mr. Robert H.
Gardiner to Professor Goodwin:
"My father gave Mr. Merrick a letter of introduction to
Sir James Craig, Governor of Canada, with whom he had been
formerly acquainted. The Governor received him courteously,
and highly approved the object; and, through his influence,
that portion of the road lying in Canada was completed ; and
the State of Massachusetts had the road made from the forks
of the Kennebec River to the Canada line. A mail was
established on the route, and a custom house on the boundary.
The advantages expected from the opening of this route were
not realized. The road for a long distance passed through a
barren country. There was a distance of forty miles with only
a single house, and no soil sufficiently good to tempt any one
to build a second. Few persons, either for pleasure or traffic,
would go over the road where, in case of accident, aid could
not be obtained. And the railroads which have since been
constructed through Vermont and Maine to Canada, have
given to the Canadians much greater facilities to the ports on
the Atlantic than could be obtained by a road through the
wilderness." ^
In his personal characteristics, tastes, and accomplishments,
Mr. Merrick was a most remarkable and versatile man. He
possessed a rare combination of genuine, practical, scientific
ability with the more esthetic qualities of a connoisseur in all
matters literary and artistic. In the development of his scien-
tific impulses Mr. Merrick acquired a thorough knowledge of
many branches of study. He was an accurate mathematician,
surveyor, and navigator. He devoted much time to the study
of astronomy, and invented a new practical method for mapping
out the heavens. He was one of the first ir^ this country who
detected the planet Uranus with the naked eye. His interest
in geology amounted to a passion. He prepared two lectures
on this subject which he gave before the members of the
famous old Hallowell Lyceum. He had also a thorough knowl-
^ Memoir of John Merrick, Esq., pp. 15-16.
104
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
edge of anatomy, and in cases of necessity proved himself an
excellent surgeon.' With all this, Mr. Merrick possessed the
most highly cultivated literary and musical tastes. His talent
for music had been developed from his childhood; and his
musical gifts proved a great source of pleasure to his friends
as well as to himself. He "played the violincello with extra-
ordinary neatness, accuracy, and depth of tone, and until quite
late in life, he sang with great sweetness. His knowledge of
music was scientific; and for many years he was President of
the Handel society of Maine. In 1817, in connection with the
late Chief Justice Mellen, who was Vice-President of the
Society, he compiled a book of sacred music, which was
published under the title of the ' Hallowell Collection of Sacred
Music,' arranged for use in churches and families and well
adapted for that purpose. It was due mainly to his strenuous
efforts and intelligent guidance that the choir of the Old South
Church in Hallowell became one of the most effective choirs
in the country." '
Mr. Merrick was also master of the art of elocution in a
day when good reading was a rare accomplishment ; and he did
much to encourage the cultivation of this art among the young
people within his large circle of influence.
It was a characteristic of Mr. Merrick that whatever he
did, he did well. This applied to his physical as well as his
mental accomplishments. He was "an inimitable skater and
swimmer, an admirable horseman, and an expert driver. If he
paddled a birch canoe, no Indian could do it better. If he
danced, no Frenchman could excel him."
Professor Goodwin pays to Mr. Merrick this personal
tribute: "His notions of honesty were almost romantic, and
his sense of honor intensely delicate. His kindness and
liberality were bounded only by his means. . . . His was a
singularly pure life. ... He was a strikingly humble and
earnest, a devout and growing Christian. . . . None ever saw
him to forget him; none ever became intimately acquainted
with him without respecting and loving him."
^ Memoir of John Merrick, Esq., p. 25.
The Merrick Cottage. North and South View
John Merrick y Esq.
105
There are not a few people still living, among the old
residents of Hallowell, who remember Mr. Merrick; and they
will all recognize this description of this remarkable man as
perfectly true in letter and in spirit. I well remember him
myself, as he appeared in our midst in the days of my own
childhood. His erect, impressive figure, his long, gray hair,
his genial smile, his kindly twinkling eyes, and his pleasant
word for every child remain vividly impressed upon my
mind. Wherever he appeared upon the street he never
failed to attract attention through his strong personality and
distinguished bearing. The portrait of Mr. Merrick painted
by C. L. Elliott, in 1856, a copy of which accompanies this
sketch, will always remain a true representation of serene,
revered, and beautiful old age.
Mr. John Merrick was born August 27, 1766, and died
October 22, 1862. His wife, Rebecca Vaughan Merrick was
born April 26, 1766, and died July 9, 1851. Their children
were :
1. Harriet Sarah, b. June 19, 1799; m. August 22, 1826, John
A. Vaughan; d. January 26, 1872.
2. Samuel Vaughan, b. May 4, 1801; m. December 25, 1823,
Sarah Thomas; d. August 18, 1870.
3. John, b. January 22, 1804; d. November 3, 1832.
4. Mary, b. December 16, 1805; m. October 23, 1843, John P.
Flagg; d. 1880.
5. George, b. November i, 1809; d. May 7, 1862.
6. Thomas Belsham, b. April 24, 1813; m. November 7, 1839,
Elizabeth M. White; d. January 13, 1902.
The children of Samuel Vaughan and Sarah Thomas
Merrick were: Helen Taylor, m. John Edmund Cope; John
Vaughan, m. Mary S. Wagner; William Henry, m. Sarah Maria
Otis; Emily Houghton; Lucy Whitwell;' Hartley; Laura
Town.
The children of Thomas Belsham and Elizabeth White
Merrick were: John; William Gordon, m. Annie Dwight Brown;
Isabella, m. George Sampson; Elizabeth, m. Charles E.
Morgan; Hallowell V.; Bertha V.; Lleulla, m. Walter Clark.
io6 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
The ancestral residence of the Merrick family, erected by-
John Merrick in 1799, still stands beneath its majestic elms in
a beautiful location at the southern end of the town. It is a
spacious cottage built on the model of the best English farm-
houses.
The front door of the house opens into a long hall which is
also used as a library. Its walls are lined with book-shelves
protected by wooden doors. Upon these shelves may still be
found valuable volumes that once belonged to that scholarly
book-lover, Mr. John Merrick. Here also is the ancestral
Bible of the Merrick family, bearing the date 1732, and con-
taining a bookplate engraved with the Merrick coat of arms.
A unique feature of tlie house is the curious, narrow, winding
stairway leading to its quaint, low-roofed chambers. The
greatest attraction of the house, however, is the octagon room.
This delightful, odd-shaped apartment is rendered most inviting
by its old-fashioned fireplace and ancient furnishings. From
its windows there are glimpses of the river, and of Augusta,
its church towers, the State House dome, and the hills beyond.
This room, which is of especial interest from the rareness and
symmetry of its architectural style, was, at the time it was built,
the only room of its kind in this locality; but a beautiful,
finely proportioned room of a similar design has, in recent
years, been added to the Vaughan mansion in Hallowell.
The Merrick house passed at one time out of the posses-
sion of the Merrick family, and was owned by Captain Swanton
and afterwards by Governor Bodwell. It has now, happily,
been purchased by Henry Vaughan, Esq., the son of Benjamin
Vaughan, and a lineal descendant through his maternal line,
from Samuel Merrick, the brother of Mr. John Merrick. Mr.
Vaughan has restored the house as nearly as possible to its
original condition, the long f)iazza on the east side being now
the only modern innovation. Such a house, with its many
hallowed associations, is a rare and valuable possession, not
only to its owner, but to the town that claims it among the
oldest and most interesting of its ancient dwellings.
Henry Goodwin Vaughan, Esq.
IX
REPRESENTATIVE FAMILIES
"No town in Maine could boast a more select and charming
circle." — Hon. John H. Sheppard.
i^^MONG the men who were prominent and influential in
^\ Hallowell in the early part of the nineteenth century,
/"^L was Hon. Nathaniel Dummer. At the age of thirty-
four, in the prime of his young manhood, he came
from Newburyport, with his wife and family, to make his
home on the shores of the Kennebec. It is at once apparent
that Nathaniel Dummer possessed those mental and moral
qualities which enabled him to take a dominant part in all the
affairs of the town and state. We find his name associated
with all the early movements for the public good. He
appears in office as the first postmaster of the Hook, as
moderator of the town meetings, and as one of the most
efficient trustees of the Hallowell Academy. The part
which he took in the broader field of legislative and judicial
life is told in a tribute to his memory penned by one of
the ablest of his contemporaries, Mr. Nathaniel Cheever,
who writes as follows:
"Judge Dummer was born in Byfield, March 9, 1755. He
was educated at Dummer Academy. At an early age he
engaged in the Revolutionary war, and having been appointed
a commissioner of prisoners, he was stationed at Providence,
R. I., where he married Mary Kilton, a widow, with one
daughter, Sarah, now Mrs. John O. Page, of this town. In
1789, he came to Hallowell and contributed with others to
raise it from its infancy to its present flourishing condition.
Endowed by nature with strong mental powers, they were
displayed in a variety of public offices which he sustained with
honor to himself and to the general advantage and satisfaction.
He was for a number of years a member of the legislature, as a
io8 Old Hallow ell on the Kennebec
Representative of the town and Senator for the county, and
always took an active and conspicuous part in the concerns of
the State, particularly of this district. No one was more
sincerely and disinterestedly engaged in the interests of his
constituents, and in no instance was their confidence misplaced.
In 1809, he was elected by the legislature into the Executive
Council of the Commonwealth, of which he was an active
and efficient member. In 1799, when the county was divided
from Lincoln, he was appointed one of the justices of the
Court of Common Pleas, which office he filled until its abolition
in 1811.
"As a legislator, active magistrate, and judge, he was
distinguished by an acuteness, penetration, and comprehensive-
ness of mind; an intuitive sagacity which procured him a
reputation and position which few with a long life of labor and
study have obtained, and none without the most spotless
integrity; and above all he possessed a practical good sense.
On commercial and political subjects his information was
extensive and his views enlarged. He was ever a firm and
undeviating supporter of the Washington Policy. . . .
Engaged as he had been in political affairs, and zealous in
what he believed the cause of truth, his warmest political
opponents never doubted his honesty and purity of intentions.
Many sought his advice and direction in difficulties, and never
sought in vain; for they had the utmost confidence in his
judgment and not less in his rectitude. His activity of
mind, his public spirit, and industrious habits, were con-
spicuous traits of his character."
Nathaniel Dummer was the son of Richard and Judith
Dummer of Newbury, and a lineal descendant of Richard
Dummer, Esq., who emigrated from England to this country in
1633. Nathaniel Dummer married August i, 1799, Mrs. Mary
(Owen) Kilton (or Kelton), of Providence, Rhode Island.
Their children were: Joseph Owen, b. March 5, 1780; m.
Judith G. Dummer, daughter of Richard Dummer; Judith
Greenleaf, b. March 5, 1780, d. March 19, 1783; Gorham, b.
September 27, 1782, m. Sarah Abbott of Concord; Maria, b.
Mrs. Mary Kilton Dummer
Judge Nathaniei. Dummer
Dummer
109
February 15, 1787, m. September 3, 181 1, Jeremiah Perley of
HallowelL
The marriage of Judge Dummer and Mrs. Mary Kilton
was preceded by a romantic courtship, the glamour of which
still lingers about the story of their lives. During the war of
the Revolution, Nathaniel Dummer, then a young lieutenant
in the Continental army, was stationed at Providence, Rhode
Island. One day a pretty little seven-year old girl, attracted
by the fascinating pomp and circumstance of military life,
strayed into the soldiers' camp. The child had a delectable
half-eaten doughnut in her hand. The young officer was
hungry. Visions of his childhood's home in old Newbury,
and of the crisp, brown dainties from his mother's frying-pan
flitted through his brain.
''Come here, little girl," said he. "Where did you get
that doughnut.?"
"My mother made it," replied the child.
"Take me to her!" exclaimed the young officer in a
dramatic tone. "Mayhap she will make me a doughnut also!"
When the pretty young widow. Mistress Mary Kilton,
looked out from her cottage window a few minutes later, she
saw a handsome young soldier coming to the house leading
her little daughter Sally by the hand. The negotiations for
the doughnuts were successful ; and the young widow earned
many sixpences during the next few weeks by the results of
her culinary art. This new source of income proved, for the
time, very acceptable to Mrs. Kilton, who, by the death of her
patriotic young husband at the beginning of the war, had been
left without adequate means of support.
Four years of widowhood had passed; but Mary Kilton
was still young and beautiful, with a tenderer grace than that
of girlhood. The lieutenant's heart was deeply touched. The
quest of the doughnut soon changed to the wooing of a bride;
and Lieutenant Nathaniel Dummer and Mary Kilton were
married, in Providence, August i, 1779. The young patriot
remained in his country's service until the close of the war.
In 1789, he removed to Hallowell with his wife and five
children, including the little Sally whom he loved as his own
no
Old Hallo we II on the Ke7inebec
daughter. We have learned of the success and honor that here
crowned his hfe. We also know of the charm and happiness
of the Dummer home, and of its refining and helpful influence
in the social life of the rapidly growing village at the Hook.
In this home little Sally Kilton grew into beautiful young
womanhood and married one of the wealthiest and most distin-
guished residents of old Hallowell, Mr. John Odlin Page.
Judge Dummer died in Hallowell, September 15, 1815;
and "seldom," as the old records tell us, "has a death in this
part of the country produced a more general sympathy." His
widow, who survived him for a number of years, was much
beloved and respected in the community.
A great-granddaughter of Mrs. Mary Kilton Dummer,
Miss Sophia B. Oilman, still has in her possession a beautiful
ring which was once worn upon the hand of her revered
ancestress a century ago. This ring is not only a treasured
souvenir of olden days, but a visible sign of the verity of this
old romance of the Revolution.
Captain John Sheppard, an English gentleman of good birth
and breeding, was born at Cirencester, an ancient walled town
in Gloucestershire, England, where his ancestors had lived for
many generations. Having received an excellent education, he
entered the counting-room of a London merchant and prepared
himself for mercantile pursuits. In his early manhood, he
married Sarah Collier of London, a beautiful young English
girl who had been educated in a French convent and who was
especially remarkable for her musical talent. This interesting
couple, allured by the favorable commercial prospects of the
time in this new country, emigrated with their two children to
Philadelphia, in 1791, and thence to Hallowell on the Kennebec.
One of the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Sheppard was the
bright and gifted boy, born March 17, 1789, afterwards well
and widely known as the Hon. John H. Sheppard. To his
writings we are indebted for many interesting reminiscences of
Hallowell and especially for accurate information in regard to
Sheppard
III
the members of the Sheppard family and their home life in
Hallowell.
"For several years," writes Hon. John H. Sheppard, *'my
father was engaged in trade at the 'Hook,' so called from a
peculiar bend in the river about half a mile below the chief
settlement where our old red house stood on a high bank,
facing a long stretch of water. . . . This old red house —
where the margin of the parlor fire-place was once adorned with
Dutch porcelain tiles, covered with scripture paintings, and
some of whose apartments were said to be haunted — has all
disappeared ; and the romance of a habitation, once gladdened
by so many genial visitors, has vanished away."
In this old home presided over by a mother who has been
described by one who knew her as "a woman of elegant
symmetry and beauty," and who had a ''voice of music," the
children of the Sheppard family were reared. The two oldest
children, John Hannibal, and Harriet Helen, were born in
England; the five younger children, George Albert, Frances,
Ann Augusta, Louisa, and William, were born in Hallowell.
The father, as well as the mother, took great pains with
the education of these children. He purchased for his eldest son
a library containing Goldsmith's histories of Greece, Rome,
and England, besides many other books, including an edition of
Plutarch's lives in seven volumes illustrated with fine plates.
This library in itself must have been of inestimable advantage
to all the children of the Sheppard family. "My father,"
writes this elder son, "also taught me to commit to memory by
making me learn every day as a task a number of lines of
Goldsmith's Deserted Village, his Traveller, and other simple
but beautiful pieces of poetry. He was himself an uncommonly
fine reader; and it seems to me that even now I can see his
noble form as he paced the parlor floor, — his eye which was
dark, kindling with animation beneath a hign, white forehead,
— holding a book in his hand, and reciting to me some of the
exquisite lines of Goldsmith, while I held his hand, following
with timid steps and repeating after him."
Other kindly and elevating influences entered into the
home life of the Sheppard family. The Sheppards had many
112
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
warm friends in the cultured social circle of Kennebec valley.
"Among them," writes Mr. John H. Sheppard, ''was that
finished, classic scholar and man of genius, the late Rev. John
S. C. Gardiner, D. D., rector of Trinity Church, under whose
care I was at college, and to whom I am indebted for a love of
choice reading and literature which have a perennial consolation
and support in all changes of fortune. The Hon. Benjamin
Vaughan, LL. D., who settled in Hallowell soon after my
father, was another friend; and the friendship of such a man to
him and his family, and particularly to myself, is among the
halcyon recollections of my life."
After living for some years in Hallowell, Mr. John
Sheppard met with financial reverses, and closing his business,
went out as supercargo on a ship to the East Indies. During
this adventurous voyage, of four years, Mr. Sheppard acquired
a knowledge of ''navigation and linear calculation" that
enabled him to take command of a vessel himself. On his
return from a second voyage to the East Indies, he spent one
winter with his family in Hallowell, and then assumed command
of a brig belonging to William O. Vaughan, which was loaded
with lumber for the Barbadoes. He reached the destined port
in safety; but the homeward voyage proved most disastrous. The
vessel was driven on the reefs between the Islands of Demerara
and Guadaloupe, and afterwards encountered a terrible gale,
but finally made Point Petre in safety. Here, Captain
Sheppard was taken with yellow fever and died after an illness
of twelve days.
Captain Sheppard was buried at Point Petre with masonic
honors, "every respect being paid to his memory by strangers;"
but it is sad to record that this gallant old-time gentleman who
was "always hopeful" and whom "no misfortune could break
down," should die in a foreign land, far from his home and
friends, at the early age of forty years.
The death of Captain Sheppard was a severe blow to his
family. His oldest son, a brilliant and promising young man
who had fitted for college at the Hallowell Academy, and
entered upon his course of study at Harvard, was obliged
to leave college and aid in the support of the family. He
Sheppard
113
entered the law office of Wilde and Bond in Hallowell, and in
course of time was appointed Register of Probate for Lincoln
County, His beautiful and accomplished mother taught school
and gave music lessons in Hallowell and afterwards in Portland
under the patronage of Judge Mellen. Her own daughters
received under her supervision a most excellent education.
She died in 181 8, just as the son, as he sadly records, "had the
means to make her more happy." Her memory is honored
"for the noble spirit with which she bore her sorrows and
brought up her large family."
The death of Mrs. Sheppard had been preceded by that of
two of her daughters, Frances and Helen. The second son,
George Albert, became a merchant of Calcutta and married
the daughter of a director of the East India company. Ann
Augusta married Dr. Philip E. Theobald of Wiscasset. Louisa,
born 1806, married Major Samuel Page of Wiscasset, and died
October 3, 1833. William W., the youngest child, died of
cholera on the Mississippi, in 1834.
Hon. John Hannibal Sheppard, married first: Helen,
daughter of Abiel Wood of Wiscasset; second: Mrs. Orissa B.
Forster, daughter of Rev. Ezra Wilmarth, of Georgetown,
Massachusetts. The children of the first marriage were one
daughter, Helen Wood, who married Dr. Stephen B. Sewall,
and two sons, John Hannibal and Abiel Wood, both of whom
died unmarried.
The memory of the life and work of Hon. John H,
Sheppard is preserved in the record of his professional career
and in his numerous literary works. Mr. Sheppard received
the degree of A. M. from Bowdoin in 1820; and was one of the
overseers of that college from 1 831 to 1852. In 1867, Harvard
College gave him the degree of Bachelor of Arts, thus restoring
to him his place in his class; and, in 1871, he/ was honored by
the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard.
Personally, Mr. Sheppard "was of medium size, with a full
chest and erect carriage. His hair was dark brown streaked
with gray, and he had keen sparkling brown eyes. ... His
presence was that of a gentleman of the old school, and this
idea was fully expressed in his conversation and manner. He
114
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
was one of the last specimens of that courtliness which was
characteristic of the educated class in our colonial days." '
But although the name of Sheppard has become extinct in
our local records, the family has been represented during the
last quarter of a century in Hallowell by the descendants of
John Sheppard.
For twenty years, Mrs. Helen Page Stinson, the grand-
daughter of John Sheppard resided in Hallowell. She was a
woman of rare charms of mind and character, and a worthy
descendant of her fair and gifted ancestress, Sarah Collier
Sheppard. The family is now represented by Miss Clara
Stinson, and Mr. Harry Stinson, children of David G. and
Helen Page Stinson, and great-grandchildren of John Sheppard,
the founder of the Sheppard family in Hallowell.
The oldest although not the earliest representative of the
Page family in Hallowell was Dr. Benjamin Page who was
born in Kensington, New Hampshire, in 1746. In his native
state. Dr. Page was eminent in his profession, and was also
well known as a patriotic citizen. He was a member of the
New Hampshire legislature, and served as surgeon in the
Revolutionary army from 1777 to 1781. In 1800, he removed
to Hallowell where his sons Dr. Benjamin Page, Jr., and John
Odlin Page had previously located. Dr. Benjamin Page, Sr.,
was a typical representative of the old school of physicians.
His manners were courtly; his mind was active and intelligent;
and he commanded the respect and esteem of his fellow-
townsmen for his usefulness as a physician and his excellence
as a man. He died in Hallowell, October 28, 1824, "with a
firm belief in the Christian religion and hope of future
happiness."
Dr. Benjamin Page, Sr., married Abigail Odlin who was
born May 28, 1748. She was the daughter of Deacon John
Odlin of Exeter, New Hampshire, and a lineal descendant of
John Odlin, an early settler of Boston and one of the original
I New-England Historical and Genealogical Register. XX XVII: 344.
Page
owners of part of the land now included in Boston Common.
Abigail Odlin was also descended, through her maternal grand-
mother, Elizabeth Woodbridge, from Rev. John Woodbridge
of Stanton, England, and his wife, a daughter of Rev. Robert
Parker, the eminent English non-conformist author and divine.
The Pages also trace their ancestry through one of their
maternal lines to Mercy, daughter of Governor Dudley, an
adventurous gentlemen descended from the Barons of Dudley
of Staffordshire, England, and at one time a captain in the
army of Queen Elizabeth.^ Dr. Benjamin Page himself,
according to family tradition, was fourth in descent from Sir
Francis Page of Great Britain. The records thus show that
some of the best blood in the colonies flowed in the veins of
the children of Dr. Benjamin and Abigail Odlin Page.
These children were Benjamin, b. April 12, 1769, d. January
25, 1824; John Odlin, b. March 26, 1771, d. in London, 181 1;
Alice, b. 1774, d. 1863; Abigail, b. June 17, 1776, d. 1778;
William Henry, b. July 9, 1779; Samuel, b. September 11,
1781; Dudley Woodbridge, b. October 4, 1783; Lucretia Flagg,
b. February 12, 1785; Rufus King, b. March 13, 1787; and
Caroline, b. December 12, 1789.
Dr. Benjamin Page, Jr., b. April 12, 1769, came to
Hallowell in 1791, among the earliest of our eminent settlers,
and so endeared himself to the hearts of the people that he was
always called "the beloved Physician." Dr. Page was educated
at the old and still famous academy at Exeter, New Hampshire,
and studied medicine with Dr. Kittridge, a distinguished
gentleman of extensive practice in Andover, Massachusetts.
His professional career, which began in Hallowell in 1791,
continued with ever increasing success for more than half a
century. He was "a man of large stature, good form, and of a
mild and benignant countenance. He possessed the qualities
of a true gentleman, suavity and benevolence of disposition, a
nice perception of the proprieties of social life, and a spirit of
deference to the feelings and rights of others." It has been
said of him that ''his advantages of professional education were
^ New-England Genealogical and Historical Regist r, x : 134.
Ii6 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
not equal to those of the present day, but the benefit he derived
from a free access to the medical library of the late Mr.
Benjamin Vaughan, and an intimate intercourse with this
gentleman who kept abreast with all the discoveries and
improvements in the science of medicine, more than counter-
balanced the defect in Dr. Page's early education. Possessing
naturally a strong mind, whose powers were happily adjusted,
Dr. Page was able to make all the sources of knowledge and
means of improvement which lay in his path, subservient to his
use. The distinguishing trait of his mind was judgment, which
conduces more than any other to distinction in the medical
profession."
In 1 814, when the "spotted fever" raged so fatally in New
England, Dr. Page discovered and put in practice a course of
treatment which rendered the disease comparatively harmless
in Hallowell. One of the ministers of that day testifies that
he attended funerals almost daily in adjoining towns, while
Dr. Page's patients almost all survived. By this success. Dr.
Page justly attained much celebrity; and Bowdoin College
was proud to confer upon him the honorary title of Doctor of
Medicine. To the end of his life. Dr. Page continued to be
*'not only the sick man's doctor, but the sick man's friend."
He died January 25, 1824, leaving behind him an enviable
reputation as physician, friend, and Christian citizen.
The wife and devoted companion of Dr. Benjamin Page
was Abigail Cutler, born in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Miss Cutler in her youth was considered a great belle and
beauty in the town of her birth, and had in her train of
admirers such gifted and gallant youths as John Quincy Adams
and Rufus King; but she bestowed her hand upon Benjamin
Page and came to make a home with him in the little hamlet at
Hallowell Hook just as the village was beginning to emerge
from its obscurity. Mrs. Page possessed the qualities of an
ideal wife and helpmate for such a man as Dr. Benjamin Page;
and their long life together was one of great happiness and
usefulness. At the time of the death of Mrs. Page, the following
tribute was paid to her memory:
**Mrs. Page retained her youthful beauty and elasticity at
Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Page
Page
117
the age of fourscore, and through her long and happy life was
a model mother, sister, wife, and daughter. Uncommonly-
graceful and winning in her manners, with a natural combination
of sweetness of temper and goodness of heart, she was beloved
and respected by all who knew her, and was the ornament of
every circle in which she moved. She was the idol of her chil-
dren, upon whom this stroke of Providence will fall most heavily ;
while her numerous friends and acquaintances will long revere
her memory and lament her loss. From the same earthly
mansion in which she dwelt, in the bosom of her family, for
more than half a century, her gentle spirit took its flight, and
now reposes, we trust, a spirit of goodness in the bosom of its
God, in those happy mansions above, not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens."
The children of Dr. Benjamin and Mrs. Abigail Cutler
Page were: Frederick Benjamin, b. July 5, 1798; Julia Ann, b.
April 6, 1800; Harriet, b. September 20, 1802; Fraziette, b.
October 8, 1804; William Cutler, b. November 16, 1806.
Major John Odlin Page, son of Benjamin and Abigail Odlin
Page, was born at Exeter, New Hampshire, March 22, 1772.
He came to Hallowell in 1790, and married Sarah Kelton,
daughter of John and Mary Kelton. Their children were:
Emeline, born December 12, 1802; John Odlin, born February
II, 1806; Louisa, born April 16, 1809.
Major Page was distinguished for his elegance of person,
urbanity of manner, decision of character, ardent philanthropy,
and love of liberty. He was engaged in the importation of
drugs, medicines, and other merchandise from England, and
amassed a large fortune for the times in which he lived. In
1 810, he went to Europe and was the bearer of American
despatches from Paris to London in 1811. I^e died in London
in that year, and was buried in the Parish Church of Saint
Michael's.
Rufus King Page, son of Benjamin and Abigail Odlin
Page, was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, March 13, 1787.
Il8 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
He married Caroline, daughter of General Hull of Revolutionary
fame. Their children were: Rufus King, John Odlin, and
Sarah. Mrs. Caroline Page died August 22, 1824. Mr. Rufus
K. Page married, March i, 1827, Martha, daughter of Colonel
Samuel Howard. Their children were: Lucretia, Frank, and
Henry.
Mr. Rufus K. Page possessed the unusual business abiUty
and executive force that was characteristic of his family. He
engaged largely in ship-building on the Kennebec, and did
much to develop this profitable industry in Hallowell. When
steamboats were introduced, Rufus K. Page and Cornelius
Vanderbilt were joint owners of the first line of steamers
between Boston and the Kennebec. Mr. Page afterwards
established a line of steamers running to San Francisco and
other distant ports. He was also the owner of the Bangor^ the
first United States steamer to enter the Black Sea. The New
York Journal of Commerce (1855) states that the steamer
Bangor of Hallowell, Maine, sailed from this country under
command of Captain Dunn, with the intention of being engaged
in towing near Constantinople, but was purchased by the
Turkish government, in 1812, and used as a hospital ship on
the Black Sea. One of the passengers on this steamer on its
first voyage to Constantinople, was Mr. Rufus K. Page, Jr.,
who was, for a number of years. Consul at Jerusalem and
afterwards at Port Said.
Mr. Rufus K. Page, Sr., remained throughout his life
closely and actively identified with the interests of Hallowell ;
and he had the honor of being elected its first mayor when the
town became a city in 1852. He died February 6, 1870, aged
eighty-three years.
Nathaniel Cheever was one of the early publishers and
book-sellers of Hallowell, and the first editor of the American
Advocate. He married Sarah Barrell of York. Their children
were: Nathaniel, b. 1805; George Barrell, b. 1807; Sarah
Barrell, b. 1809; Elizabeth Bancroft, b. 181 2; Henry Theodore,
b. 1814; Nathaniel, b. 1816; Charlotte Barrell, b. 1818.
Cheever
119
Nathaniel Cheever died at Augusta, Georgia, March 5, 1819,
in the prime of his manhood, at the age of forty-one years.
His widow, *'a lady of culture and a woman of unusual strength
of mind and active piety," is said to have been "fully equal to
the task of bringing up her family of seven children." Two of
these children, George B. and Henry T. Cheever, attained
unusual celebrity.
George Cheever doubtless inherited from his parents a
superior intellect which was nourished by most careful culture.
In his childhood, his love for reading was encouraged by his
friends, and especially by Mrs. Benjamin Vaughan, who loaned
him books from the Vaughan library and directed his literary
tastes. He took his college preparatory course at the
Hallowell Academy, and entered Bowdoin with the famous
class of 1825. At Bowdoin, he was a most intense and
thorough student, and an omniverous reader. Calvin E.
Stowe, a student in the class above Cheever, once said:
"It is fifty dollars damage to the college library to have a
theme assigned to Cheever to write upon. He examines
every shelf to see if by any possibility he can find a sentence
which throws light upon his subject."
George Cheever was not only a thorough student but an
original thinker and a fearless expounder of what he believed to
be the truth. He began life in the Christian ministry with the
resolve that he would never see wrong-doing without rebuking
it. Mr. Abbott asserts that Cheever was influenced all his life
by the spirit of the man who prayed: "O Lord, I thank thee
that I have none of that sneaking virtue called prudence!"
Mr. Cheever was ordained pastor of the Howard Street
Congregational Church at Salem, in 1832. While there he
contributed many literary and theological articles to the North
American Review^ the Biblical Repository^] and other maga-
zines. He was one of the most voluminous and famous of the
Hallowell writers; and on the shelves of the Hubbard Free
Library may be found his works in forty volumes. These
books cover a period from 1828 to i860. Notable among them
are: Studies in Poetry^ Lectures on the Pilgrims Progress ,
120
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Wanderings of a Pilgrim^ Voices of Nature, and God Against
Slavery.
But the most famous work of Dr. Cheever was a temper-
ance pamphlet called Deacon Giles' Distillery. The contents
of this pamphlet were originally published in the Salem
Landmark, in February, 1835, 3-^ the time when the tem-
perance agitation was beginning to excite the public mind.
The scathing utterances of this tract upon the great evil of this
period were like tongues of flame burning into the hearts of the
New England people. The effect of the article as it first
appeared in the columns of the Landmark was unprecedented;
and its subsequent influence upon the temperance reform was
comparable to that of Uncle Tom's Cabin in the antislavery
movement.
A copy of this rare and curious old pamphlet lies before
me. It is entitled: Deacon Giles' Distillery; and it is certainly
a lurid and awful story. Deacon Giles was a highly respectable
gentleman who made a great deal of money by the products of
his distillery. Although a pious man and a church member,
Deacon Giles never allowed the fires in his distillery to go out
on Sunday; and, on one occasion, when his men refused to
work, he hired a company of devils to take their place. These
wicked devils conspired to play a joke upon the Deacon, and
marked all of his barrels with invisible inscriptions which,
whenever a glass of liquor was drawn, burst into these flaming
lines: *Tnsanity and Murder," "Convulsions and Epilepsies,"
Delirium Tremens," "Distilled Death and Damnation," and
other things too terrible to mention.
The tale is relieved here and there by a touch of keen
satire or of grim humor. For example, in payment for their
labors, the Deacon offered the demons "as much rum every
day as they could drink;" but they "told him they had enough
of hot things where they came from without drinking damna-
tion in the distillery." Finally the deacon said he would give
them half of what they asked, if they would take two-thirds of
that in Bibles, — a stock of which the good deacon always kept
in one corner of his distillery. The devils "winked and made
signs to each other," and agreed to work over Sunday on
Cheever
121
these terms; but, when their task was finished, they told the
deacon that it was against their principles to take any wages
for work done on the Sabbath, and refused to touch the Bibles.
The wood cuts that illustrate the text of the pam-
phlet are as weird and demoniacal as the scenes which they
portray. One of the pictures represents the devils dancing
around the boiling caldron. This was no mild Shakespearean
"Double, double, toil and trouble" performance, but a fiendish
revel in which the devils ''leaped and grinned and jibbered and
swore, . . . and danced to music as infernal as the rhymes
they chanted were malignant," while ''they threw their poison-
ous and nauseous drugs into the agitated mixture . . . amidst
the foaming mass of materials, which they stirred and tasted,
scalding hot as it was, with a ferocious, exulting delight."
One of the most curious effects of the publication of
Deacon Giles Distillery was that a certain distiller of Salem
took it as a personal affront ; and he, a deacon in a Christian
church, prosecuted the Rev. Mr. Cheever for libel. Mr.
Cheever was convicted, and imprisoned for thirty days in the
Salem jail. "But the whole procedure gave wings to the pro-
duction of his genius, and caused it to become one of the great
instruments of opening the eyes of the suffering community to
the true character of distillation."
The influence of Mr. Cheever's writings was felt to a
degree forgotten or unrecognized at the present day. But
when we recall the spirit of the times in which he lived, the
vital interest which the subjects of intemperance and slavery
had for the people, and the irresistible power with which
Cheever put forth his arguments and appeals, we can under-
stand the statement of the Rev. John S. C. Abbott that
"there is perhaps no one of the Bowdoin class of 1825 who has
produced a deeper impression on the American community than
George B. Cheever." '
Henry Theodore Cheever, was born in Hallowell in 1814.
He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1834, and followed very
closely in his brother's footsteps as clergyman, traveler, and
author. After preaching for some years in New York, New
Jersey, and Connecticut, he finally settled in Worcester,
122
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Massachusetts, in 1864. He was deeply interested in the anti-
slavery cause, and was secretary of the church antislavery
society. In addition to numerous biographical and theological
works, he wrote a book entitled Life in the Sandwich
Islands, and numerous volumes of travel and adventure
among the islands of the Pacific, for young people.
The old dwelling-house which was the home of the Cheever
family is still standing on Water Street in Hallowell. It should
be preserved in memory of the two eminent clergymen and
reformers who passed their boyhood and youth within its walls.
The name of Abbott holds a prominent place in the social
and literary annals of Hallowell. This is due not only to the
fame of the well-known authors, Jacob and John S. C. Abbott,
but to the eminent position of their parents in the community
and to the many interesting associations connected with their
family record.
Jacob Abbot, Esq., the first of the name in Hallowell, was
the son of Jacob and Lydia Abbot ^ of Wilton, New Hampshire.
He was born October 20, 1776, married his cousin, Betsey,
daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth Chandler Abbot, April 8,
1798, and removed to Hallowell in November, 1800.
Jacob Abbot, Esq., possessed all the excellent traits of his
eminent Puritan ancestors, and was much beloved and respected
in the town. He was a fine singer and very fond of music.
Before coming to Hallowell, he had been one of the founders
of the Concord Musical Society and chorister at the Old North
Meeting-house. At Hallowell, he occupied for many years a
prominent position in the famous Old South choir. In all of
his business relations he was noted for his sincerity, justice,
and probity. Dr. Gillet once said, "Squire Abbot has a
remarkable faculty for being happy;" and this was doubtless
true, for, as we are told by one who knew him, there was never
I It should be here noted that the father and grandfather of Jacob Abbott, the author,
spelled their name Abbot. Jacob the third, for the sake of distinction, added a second t
to his name; and his younger brothers adopted the same form. One of the brothers
Gorham D. Abbot, afterwards returned to the original spelling of the name.
Abbott
123
a man who lived more constantly for others, or who was more
unmindful of self.
The children of Jacob and Betsey Abbot were : Sallucia, b.
August 7, 1801; Jacob, b. November 14, 1803; John Stevens
Cabot, b. September 18, 1805; Gorham Dummer, b. September
3, 1807; Clara Ann, b. October 28, 1809; Charles Edward, b.
December 8, 181 5; Samuel Phillips, d. 1849.
John S. C. Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott were
born in Brunswick during the temporary residence of their
parents in that town, but their boyhood was passed in Hallowell.
Mr. John S. C. Abbott, in his Reminiscences of Childhood
thus speaks of his early home :
*'My parents and my grandparents belonged to the strictest
class of Christians. My father never omitted morning and
evening prayers, or to ask a blessing and return thanks at each
meal. We knew that our mother had a season each day in
which she retired to her 'closet and shut the door' that she
might 'in secret' pray for each child by name.
"The Sabbath was sacredly observed. As a rule through
summer and winter, through heat and cold, we all went to
church. Sabbath schools were not then held. Both of my
parents were sweet singers. In our Sabbath, Thanksgiving,
and Fast Day devotions, we alway sang hymns. Sabbath
evening mother gathered us seven children around her knee.
We then recited to her the Catechism, and each one repeated a
hymn from Watts or some other poet, which she had selected
for us in the morning. . . . We children all knew that
both father and mother would rather we would struggle all our
days with adversity, and be Christians^ than to have all the
honors of genius, and all the wealth of millionaires lavished
upon us, without piety. . . . We loved those Puritan
parents with a fervor that could hardly be surpassed.
Edward Abbott, in his Memorial Sketch of Jacob Abbott^.
gives another pleasant picture of child-life in Hallowell, written
for him by ''one who had a joyous part in it:"
"This Hallowell life was very pleasant. Sam Merrick (as
he was called then) used in winter to get out the old-fashioned
white double sleigh, which he called 'the Ark,' and take us all
124
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
for a ride about the streets in a light snow storm. Then there
was the coasting down the hills, and all the winter amusements
which we had health and strength for in those early days.
The winter evening visits, too, were very pleasant. Children
went more with their parents then than they do now. I
remember one such occasion at Mr. Merrick's in the octagon
parlor: the large white marble fireplace on one of the eight
sides of the room, a big fire in it, a party of elderly gentlemen
and ladies seated in semi-circles on each side, a large tea-table
on the side of the room opposite, covered with the tea-equipage
and around which we children, Vaughans, Merricks, and Abbots,
all sat with Mrs. Merrick, who sent the tea, etc., to the party
around the fire on a small tea-tray, and gave us children our
supper meanwhile. After tea, the things were rem.oved; and
books, pictures, riddles, etc., were brought for our amusement,
while the elders chatted pleasantly before the fire. Our visits
at Mr. Benjamin Vaughan's and at your Grandfather's, 'Squire
Abbot's,' were of the same character. The feast for the
appetite was very simple; but the intellectual and aesthetical
feast was of the first order."
The unusual social and educational advantages of Hallowell,
in connection with the excellent home training received by the
five Abbott boys, laid the foundation for their subsequent
'useful and successful careers, — careers which in the retrospect
seem remarkable for their similarity. All five of these boys
attended the Hallowell Academy; all graduated from Bowdoin
College; all studied theology at Andover; all became teachers
and ministers; all, except the youngest, who died in 1849,
became eminent as authors. But notwithstanding this unity of
life-work, each of the Abbott brothers was distinguished by
marked individuality of character. A discerning friend in
comparing three of them once said: Jacob for advice; John for
a speech; Gorham for a prayer."
Jacob Abbott, the eldest son, entered Bowdoin when he
was not quite fourteen years of age. He graduated in 1820;
and, in 1824, was appointed professor of mathematics and
natural philosphy at Amherst. In 1828, he was married to
Miss Harriet Vaughan, daughter of Charles Vaughan, Esq., of
Abbott
125
Hallowell, a young lady much admired for her beauty and
lovehness of character.
In 1833, Jacob Abbott became principal of the Mt. Vernon
School for young ladies in Boston. His work there was very
effective in elevating and broadening the standard of education
of young women. Ten years later, he was associated with his
four brothers in Abbott's Institute, a school for young ladies
in New York. The methods pursued by Jacob Abbott as an
instructor in these schools are, in many instances, traceable to
his own experience and early training. His books for children
also disclose many bits of life and character suggestive of his
own home; and the author himself asserts that the influences
that moulded his life were in a marked degree traceable to his
youthful associations and surroundings in old Hallowell.
The fame of Jacob Abbott as the author of one hundred
and eighty volumes is well known to every reader of these
pages; but we who were brought up on the Rollo Books, the
Jonas Books, the Lucy Books, the Harper s Story Books, and
the Red Histories, have a peculiar feeling of gratitude and
affection for the author that the younger generation of to-day
can never understand. To us there was never any hero so wise
as "Mr. George," or so resourceful as "Jonas," or so fascinating
as "Beechnut;" and there certainly were never any "red
histories," dyed with the blood of dethroned tyrants and
beheaded queens, that touched so poignantly yet impressed so
lightly, the susceptible but volatile heart of childhood.
Four children were born to Jacob and Harriet Vaughan
Abbott, who became eminent in the professional and literary
world. They were Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott,
Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott. The life of these
brothers presents a curious unity of purpose and results
comparable to that of their father and his /brothers. These
four sons of Jacob Abbott all graduated from New York
University; three of them studied law; the fourth, the late Rev.
Edward Abbott, entered the ministry and became rector of
St. Jam.es Church at Cambridge. All have been engaged in
literary and editorial work. They were also all accomplished
musicians, having perhaps inherited, together with their father
126
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
and grandfather, their love and talent for music from that more
remote ancestor, George Abbot, known as '*a man of great
simplicity and piety who tuned a psalm."
The Rev. John S. C. Abbott has a ministerial record of
forty years. He was also a prolific author with more than fifty
volumes to his credit, including the famous Life of Napoleon
and such of the Red Histories as pertain to France. His
historical works were translated into many languages and gave
their author an international reputation.
Mr. Abbott graduated from Bowdoin College, with Long-
fellow, Hawthorne, Cheever, Packard, and other celebrated
men, in the famous class of 1825. He was one of the members
of this class who were present at the fiftieth anniversary of
their graduation when Longfellow delivered the poem, Morituri
Salutantus, The opening invocation was by Mr. Abbott, and
was most impressive. There are those who were present on
this memorable day, — and I count myself happy to have been
one of the number, — who still remember the fine, spiritual
face and the sympathetic presence of this man who after fifty
years of wide experience and many honors had brought back to
his Alma Mater the unsullied and enthusiastic heart of the
boy. In our ears, his thrilling tones still linger as, standing
beside his gray-haired class-mate, he uttered this petition:
"Lord, teach us to remember that
' Not enjoyment and not sorrow
Is our destined end or way,
But to act that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day. ' "
These lines disclose the motif of the harmonious and
effective life-work of the Abbott family.
Just one hundred years ago, in the year 1809, made
memorable by the birth of so many illustrious men, there
was born, in Portland, Maine, a child destined to have the
exceptional experience of being one of the most widely read
and yet speedily forgotten authors in the realm of American
Ingraham
127
letters. This child was Joseph Holt Ingraham. He was the
son of James M. Ingraham, and, according to family tradition,
a direct descendant of Sir Arthur Ingraham, a valiant knight of
the days of King James I. of England.
When the little Joseph was four years old, his parents re-
mpved from Portland to Hallowell, Maine. His father is described
by one of his contemporaries as *'a very polite, gentlemanly sort
of man who always wore black broadcloth." Mr. Ingraham
entered into business in the store on Water Street that after-
wards became a well-known landmark on Ingraham's corner;
and the family resided in a house that stood for many years in
the locality of the present City Building. There were nine
children in the Ingraham family, six of whom were born after
the parents came to reside in Hallowell.
Here the youthful Joseph grew up, taking an active part in
the young life of the town. He attended school at the
Hallowell Academy; and has left on record some very inter-
esting reminiscenses of this period of his life. During these
years of his boyhood, his young heart was many times stirred
by the marvelous stories told by the old sea-captains who daily
sat to spin their yarns and sip their tall glasses of flip in the old
store on Ingraham's Corner; and when he was about seventeen
years of age the love of adventure began to assert itself. Every
white sail that vanished down the Kennebec beckoned to him
to follow; and so, one day, the lad put on his tarpaulin and set
sail upon a sloop bound for South America.
Returning from this voyage, apparently quite satisfied with
his perilous experiences by land and sea, — including a lively
part in a South American rebellion, — the brave and adven-
turous descendant of Sir Arthur Ingraham once more settled
down to his studies, and entered Bowdoin college after the
manner of the other well-regulated youths pf Hallowell. He
graduated at twenty-four years of age. In 1832, he was
Professor of Languages in Jefferson College, Mississippi. In
1836, he was editor of The South-west by a Yankee.
The literary ability of Joseph Holt Ingraham began to
develop while he was in college; and his remarkable powers of
description and his riotous imagination, fed perhaps by some of
128
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
his own experiences, soon found expression in a series of
marvelous and exciting tales whose heroes were pirates,
corsairs, freebooters, and Indians. The first and most popular
of these stories were Lafitte^ or The Pirate of the Gulf Captain
Kydd, and The Dancifig Feather, which sold in editions of tens
of thousands. Another very interesting story was Scarlet
Feather, a tale of the Abenaki Indians of the Kennebec.
After a few years, the wild spirit of the youthful author
seems to have expended itself upon these stories, and a more
worthy ambition stirred his heart. His mind took a more
serious turn, and his life-work became fixed upon a more exalted
plane. He traveled much, studied profoundly, prepared him-
self for the Protestant Episcopal ministry, became Dean of St.
Thomas' School for boys, and took orders in Christ Church, at
Holly Springs, Mississippi.
In 1855, a book appeared from the pen of Rev. J. H.
Ingraham which took the American reading public by storm.
This was The Prince of the House of David. The success of
the book was immediate and unprecedented. Hundreds of
thousands of copies were sold, and the book is still listed by
prominent American and English publishers.
The Prince of the House of David was followed by The
Pillar of Fire and The Throne of David, all of which are
credited with historical accuracy, a picturesque setting, and a
dramatic charm. They were not only the first novels founded
upon Biblical subjects, but the first novels that were cordially
received into the homes of Christian families in America.
Even the Sunday school libraries on whose shelves no work of
fiction had ever appeared, warmly welcomed the Prince of the
House of David and the two succeeding volumes of Ingraham's
trilogy of religous novels.
But although the sale of Ingraham's books ran into the
millions, and although they are still annually issued by standard
publishers, the author himself seems to be almost forgotten by
the literary world. The encyclopedias give him but brief
mention, and the histories of American literature consistently
ignore him. This experience presents a curious phase of
authorship. If it be conceded that The Prince of the House of
Moody
129
David is not literature in the highest sense of the word, there
still remains the interesting question, to what elements in the
book is its great and lasting popularity due? This question is
quite worthy of the consideration of the student who is tracing
the development of the American novel.
Mr. Ingraham married, in 1837, Miss Mary E. Brookes,
the daughter of a wealthy Mississippi planter. Their son,
Prentiss Ingraham, born in 1843, was a colonel in the Confed-
erate army. Like his father he was a writer of dramatic and
picturesque fiction, and, at the time of his death, was the
author of a thousand novels.
The Rev. Joseph H. Ingraham died in i860. He cher-
ished until his last years most vivid and delightful recollections
of the home of his boyhood; and his Lights and Shadows of the
Past are a treasure-store of reminiscences that are of especial
value to us to-day, for they were written for the sons and
daughters of Old Hallowell.
Samuel, Nathan, and Enoch Moody were the sons of Paul
and Mary Moody of Byfield Parish in Newbury. They all
settled in Hallowell and became prominent and much respected
citizens.
Samuel Moody was born February 3, 1765. He was a
graduate of Dartmouth college, and, for three years, was
preceptor of Berwick Academy. In July, 1797, Mr. Moody
was appointed preceptor of the academy at Hallowell, where
he taught with great success for eight years. His salary at
first was three hundred dollars a year and ten cents a week
from each pupil. At the close of his term of service, he was
receiving five hundred dollars a year, and had an assistant who
received an annual salary of three hundred dollars.
Preceptor Moody is mentioned in the local records as "a
portly gentleman who always wore a queue." When he first
came to Hallowell, he was a brilliant young man of thirty-two,
whose marriage to Miss Sarah Sawyer, daughter of Enoch and
Hannah Sawyer, had just taken place at Newbury. Mr. and
Mrs. Samuel Moody resided in the large, square house on the
130 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
corner of Middle and Winthrop streets, still notable for its
handsome colonial doorway, and now designated as the Moses
Oilman house. Here their daughter Sarah grew into beautiful
young womanhood, and was married, beneath the roof of this
hospitable old mansion, to Joseph C. Lovejoy, October 6, 1830.
Samuel Moody, after resigning his preceptorship, went
into trade with his brother Nathan at Hallowell. He was
successful in business and occupied positions of public trust in
the town. He was also one of three delegates sent from
Kennebec County to the convention held in Portland in
October, 1819, for the purpose of forming a constitution for
the State of Maine. He died April 6, 1832, aged sixty-seven,
meriting the inscription placed upon his gravestone: "I will
hold fast my integrity."
Nathan Moody was born September 11, 1768, at Newbury,
Massachusetts, and came to Hallowell in 1796. He was a
graduate of Dartmouth College, and a remarkable mathema-
tician. He married Judith Wingate, daughter of Joseph and
Judith Wingate. Their children were: Mary Elizabeth, born
July 25, 1806; died, September i, 1822; and Caroline Judith,
born April 22, 1809; married October 21, 1828, William
Stickney of Hallowell.
Nathan Moody married second, Susan Clark of Plaistow,
New Hampshire. Their daughter. Miss Mary Moody, was for
many years a resident in the old Moody House, now known as
the Macomber house, on Second Street.
The Wingate family has an ancient and interesting lineage.
Joshua and Joseph Wingate, who were settled in Hallowell at
the opening of the nineteenth century, were sons of the Rev.
Paine Wingate, "for sixty years the godly and faithful pastor
of the church at Amesbury, Massachusetts," and descendants
of "John Wingate, Planter, of Dover, in 1658." The mother of
Joshua and Joseph Wingate was Mary Balch, "a lady noted for
considerable literary acquirements and personal beauty."
Joshua Wingate married Hannah Carr, daughter of Deacon
James Carr, and came to Hallowell in 1794. At this time, the
Captain John Agry
Wingate
131
passage was usually made in a sailing vessel; but Mrs. Wingate,
not liking the sea voyage, undertook the journey in a chaise.
Her husband, finding the roads extremely rough, was obliged
to employ a servant on each side of the vehicle to keep it
upright and pry it out of the mud-holes. But they at last
arrived safely at their destination, and cast in their fortunes with
the new and rapidly growing town on the Kennebec.
Mr. Wingate entered into trade, and became one of the
most prosperous merchants of Hallowell. He also served as
postmaster for a number of years, and was prominent in the
public affairs of the town. Joshua Wingate with his family
resided in a large, fine house on the corner of Second and
Union streets, now known as the Niles house. He lived to
the remarkable age of ninety-seven years. He was always
a conspicuous figure upon the street, as, up to the time of his
death in 1844, he maintained the fashion of his early manhood,
and wore small clothes and knee buckles. He was ''universally
respected for his industry, integrity, and a faithful discharge of
all the social and Christian duties." '
Joseph Wingate, brother of Joshua, born July 17, 1751,
married Judith Carr, and came to Hallowell about 1800. He
owned and successfully cultivated a large farm, and was famil-
iarly known as "Farmer Wingate." He was a friend of Dr.
Benjamin Vaughan, with whom he "frequently went home for a
neighborly visit on Sunday after meeting."
Joseph and Judith Wingate had ten children, all born
before their parents removed from Amesbury to Hallowell.
Their second son, Francis (born January 5, 1789; d. May 14,
1848) married, January 24, 1823, Martha Savary of Bradford,
and settled on his father's estate in Hallowell. Their children
were Mary Savary who married Dr. M. C. Richardson, and
George Francis who married, August 6, 1 861, /Emma A. Myers
of Manchester, Maine. Mr. Geprge Francis Wingate was for
many years one of the prominent business men of the town.
Through his children the name of Wingate has been perpetu-
ated in Hallowell.
I History of the Wingate Family , p. i66.
132 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Hon. Chandler Robbins will long be remembered as one of
the notabilities of Hallowell. He was the son of Rev. Chandler
and Jane Prence Robbins of Plymouth. In 1 791, he came to
Hallowell and established himself as a merchant. He was a
man of native talent, a graduate of Harvard College, and well
fitted by birth and education to take a prominent place in the
community. We soon find him on record as Register of Pro-
bate and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
Judge Robbins married Harriet, daughter of Thomas
Lorthrop, and had two sons: William Henry, born October 22,
1795, and Chandler, born August 21, 1797. He resided on the
corner of Second and Lincoln streets, in one of the old-fashioned,
square, two-story houses which abound in Hallowell, and enter-
tained many distinguished guests in his hospitable home.
The founders of the Agry family were notable as ship-
builders and sea-captains, and stand as typical representatives
of a class of men that constituted an important element in the
early life on the Kennebec.
Captain Thomas Agry established a ship-yard in Dresden
in 1774; and built, at Agry's Point, twenty of the batteaux for
Arnold's expedition. His son, John Agry, born at Barnstable,
April 7, 1763, also settled at Dresden. Here he engaged
extensively in ship-building, and was owner and commander of
many of the vessels constructed in the Agry ship-yards.
Captain John Agry married Elizabeth Reed of Boothbay,
August 13, 1793. A long-remembered bit of romance is inter-
woven with the story of the betrothal of this young couple.
Captain Agry, on one of his return voyages, once encountered a
very severe storm at the mouth of the Kennebec. He was
obliged to put into Parker's Head for safety; and in this unex-
pected haven he met and fell in love with the beautiful young
girl who soon afterwards became his wife.
In 1 801, Captain John Agry removed to Hallowell, and
built for his first residence the spacious, old-time mansion on
Water Street, afterwards known as the Marshall house. Later
Captain John Agry erected the brick house on Second Street in
which his son. Captain George Agry, afterwards resided.
Mrs. B1.1ZABETH Rekd Agry
Agry
133
Captain George Agry, the seventh child of Captain John and
Elizabeth Agry, born February 2, 1808, married Caroline
Hodges, of Hallowell, September 18, 1841; and died in Port-
land, October i, 1894.
UnHke most of the Hallowell sailors, this young captain, at
the age of eighteen, started out as master of his own vessel. In
fact, it is said that he was "Captain, mate, cook, and whole
ship's crew;" and that he "carried one passenger and a trunk
from Pittston down the Kennebec to the sea, and thence along
the coast to the Penobscot, and up that river to Bangor."
For more than forty years Captain Agry followed the sea,
sailing from Boston to English, French, and Mediterranean
ports. During his sea-going life, he was master and part owner
of eleven vessels. Mrs. Agry accompanied her husband on
many of his voyages and shared with him some thrilling
experiences, during which Captain Agry showed himself to be
a man of great nerve and courage.
Captain Agry accumulated a large property early in life.
His home was one of the most hospitable in Hallowell; and
many of the guests who were entertained under its roof were
friends made by the Captain among the distinguished pas-
sengers whom he frequently carried "across," on his voyages
from the United States to Europe.
At the opening of the Civil War, Captain Agry gave up
his ship and became one of those "retired sea cap'ns," of whom
there were so many in Hallowell in the olden days. These men
of leisure, travel, and experience in foreign lands, formed a most
interesting part of the community. As a class, they were
generous, open-hearted, and hospitable. They were always
delightful story-tellers, and genial companions. They were
also keenly interested in politics, and had ample time for the
discussion of the questions of the day. j
Captain Agry was an enthusiastic Democrat and a very
outspoken anti-abolitionist. He remained loyal to his party all
his life; but in after years he fully recognized the justice of the
principles of his early opponents, and looked upon the abolition
of slavery as the righteous result of the great national conflict.
The children of captain George and Caroline Hodges Agry
134
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
are: Adelaide Newman, now Mrs. A. B. Moulton of Portland;
Caroline Amelia, Mrs. Wiley S. Edmands of Newton, Massa-
chusetts; and Mr, George Agry of Newton. The name of
Agry, in the younger generation, has descended to George
Agry, Jr., a graduate of Dartmouth, 1905, and Warren Agry
of Dartmouth, 191 1, the sons of Mr. George Agry, formerly
of Hallowell.
The Sewalls of Hallowell belonged to the well-known York
family descended from Henry Sewall, Mayor of Coventry,
England. David Sewall settled in Hallowell in 1784, and his
brother Moses came in 1787. They built stores and ware-
houses, and were engaged in the "goods selling business."
John Sewall, a cousin of David and Moses, also settled in
Hallowell. He erected the three-story house that still stands,
a conspicuous landmark, upon the high bank overlooking
Lowell's crossing. John Sewall was town clerk for many
years; and to his indefatigable labors, we are indebted for
valuable records of the old families of Hallowell. John -Sewall
also taught the town school, and ruled his pupils with a master-
ful and undisputed sway. The Sewall brothers were able
and enterprising men; and their families occupied a highly
respected position in the town.
The daughters of these old Hallowell families were no
less worthy of honorable mention than the sons. Miss Elizabeth
Cheever, daughter of Nathaniel Cheever, was a rarely gifted
young woman of exceptionally beautiful character. She mar-
ried Mr. Ichabod Washburn of Worcester, Massachusetts, and
spent her long life and ample fortune in philanthropic work.
She has been called the ''Lady Bountiful" and the ''Saint
Elizabeth" of her adopted city.
The two daughters of the Abbott household were quite
worthy of their name and family inheritance. Miss Sallucia
Abbott never married. She may be regarded as an example
of that notable and honored type of spinsterhood in which all
the estimable qualities of the New England woman are com-
bined. Strong in her convictions, forceful in her character,
and far-reaching in her sympathies, she was a dominant factor
i
Daughters of Hallowell
135
in the Abbott home. As the elder sister, Miss Sallucia,
exercised a watchful care over her brothers and, by her critical
ability, cultivated tastes, and practical helpfulness, contributed
much to the success of their literary work. In her later years,
"Aunt Sallucia" lived at Fewacres, the Abbott estate in
Farmington, where she *'sat as an oracle in her seat, and
administered a mimic sovereignty in the realm over which, by
common consent, she was the queen."
Miss Mary Moody was a woman of lovable character and
unusual mental attainments. During many years she taught
a very successful school for young ladies in her own home.
Three generations of private pupils received instruction from
Miss Moody, through whose teachings they were imbued
with an ideal of true womanhood, and with noble aspirations
that permanently influenced their lives. Miss Moody was a
devoted member of the Old South Church ; and was the author
of the beautiful poem entitled, "The Old South Church of
Hallowell." The last twelve years of her life. Miss Moody
spent with her nephew, Mr. George Hoyt, in Chicago and
Pittsburg. She died August 14, 1906, at the age of eighty-one.
Mrs. Charlotte Sewall Eastman, daughter of David Sewall,
was a woman of superior intelligence and culture. She traveled
extensively abroad, and resided twelve years in Italy. Once,
when in Switzerland, she had the pleasure of meeting George
Eliot. The famous authoress sat in the garden of her hotel,
reading aloud, in French, the story of Romola to a little girl
at her side. As Mrs. Eastman approached, she paused a
moment to listen to the musical voice of the reader. "Do you
understand me.?" asked Mrs. Lewes, graciously. "Pardon me,"
replied Mrs. Eastman; "I was only listening to your sweet
voice." "Do you like it.?" said Mrs. Lewes, as her face lighted
with pleasure. Then, taking the hand of the American lady
in her own, she said: "I thank you. I would much rather you
would compliment my voice than my Romola!'
Mrs. Eastman, in her early years, was a student at the
Hallowell x^cademy. In after life, she was a liberal benefactress
of the Classical School. She will long be remembered among
the loyal daughters of her native town.
X
THE LAWYERS OF HALLOWELL
"The bar of Kennebec contained at that time able lawyers and
advocates. ... It required industry, perseverance, and a high
ambition, as well as intellectual powers, to compete successfully
with such men." — Hon. William Willis.
EURING the days of the early growth and prosperity
of Hallowell, a number of men eminent in the legal
profession successively established themselves in the
town, and contributed largely to its social and intellect-
ual life. These men became well known, not only as members
of the Kennebec bar, but as representatives to General Court,
to the Maine legislature, and to the congress of the United
States. They included, among their number, members of the
Executive Council, and judges of the District Court and of the
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Notable among
these lawyers were : Amos Stoddard, Nathaniel Perley, Samuel
Sumner Wilde, Thomas Bond, Peleg Sprague, Ebenezer T.
Warren, John Otis, Williams Emmons, William Clark, Henry
W. Paine, William B. Glazier, and Henry Knox Baker.
The name of Amos Stoddard stands first, in point of time,
in the list of lawyers who gave distinction to the profession of
law in Hallowell. He was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, in
1759. At the age of twenty he entered the Revolutionary
army and served throughout the seven years of the war.
During this period of active service in the army, he developed
that taste and ability for military affairs which marked his
subsequent career. At the close of the war, Stoddard became
assistant clerk of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, and
resided in Boston. The fame of the growing town of Hallowell
soon attracted him to this place; and about 1794, he settled at
the Hook and opened an office as attorney of the Common
Pleas. He was a man of unusual talent, and fine personal
appearance; and from his legal ability and his experience in the
Perley
137
Massachusetts court, he immediately commanded a leading
place among the residents of the town. He was the represen-
tative from Hallowell to the General Court of Massachusetts
in 1797, the year in which the town was divided.
But although the legal and legislative ability of Mr.
Stoddard was thus recognized, his military tastes and aspira-
tions were predominant in his life; and in 1798, he threw up
the profession of law and entered the United States Army with
the rank of Captain, In 1799, he had command of the Fort on
Munjoy Hill, then called Fort Sumner. In 1802, Captain
Stoddard was ordered to Ohio, and was soon promoted to the
rank of Major. Subsequently he was civil commander of upper
Louisiana; and a military station. Fort Stoddard, was named in
his honor. During the latter part of his life, he wrote two
notable books. The Political Crisis, published in London, and
Sketches of Louisiana. He died at the age of fifty-four,
leaving behind him an honorable record as a patriot and
soldier.
Nathaniel Perley was born at Boxford, Massachusetts,
about 1770. He was graduated from Dartmouth College in
1 791, and, after being admitted to the Massachusetts bar,
removed to Hallowell, where he began the practice of law in
1795. He was a man of genial disposition and delightful
personality, and was always known as ''Squire Perley."
The following discriminating estimate of Mr. Perley's
professional career, from the pen of Charles Dummer, Esq.,
for many years a highly esteemed citizen of Hallowell, will be
of especial interest in this connection :
''Intelligent, full of life, possessing high social quahties,
Mr, Perley gathered around him many friends and very soon
found himself actively engaged in the responsibilities of life.
This current of business continued to enlarge with the growth
of the community around him. Steadfast friends, uninter-
rupted health, and persevering application gave encouragement
to all his hopes. He was distinguished for sound common
sense; he possessed varied powers; his quickness of perception
138
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
and constant good humor attracted early attention. . . .
Without marked distinction for legal learning, he would be more
truthfully described as a successful practitioner of law, main-
taining a respectable position, whether discharging faithfully
the duty that grows out of the ordinary collection of debts, or
unfolding the powers of argument before the jury or the court."
Mr. Willis states that "Mr. Perley was faithful and firm in
advancing the interests of the town where he resided." He
represented Hallowell in the General Court of Massachusetts
in 1804, and again in 1816; and "discharged with integrity all
his political duties. Uniformly patriotic, with enlightened zeal
he always upheld the best interests of our country." '
One marked characteristic of "Squire Perley" was his
ready wit and gift of repartee. His bon mots and happy hits
were repeated over and over by his colleagues of the Kennebec
bar; but Mr. Perley himself "appeared wholly unconscious of
any such power of utterance. Unmoved and even sedate in
manner, he seemed surprised, at the moment, with the delight
which the circle around him manifested." ^ By this felicity
and spontaneity of expression, Mr. Perley acquired the
reputation of being "the greatest wit of the Kennebec bar."
Nathaniel Perley married Mary, daughter of Richard and
Judith Dummer of Newbury, and sister of Hon. Nathaniel
Dummer of Hallowell. The Perley s resided in the fine old
house on Second Street, afterwards successively occupied by
Mr. Jesse Aiken and Mr. Elbridge Rollins, and now owned by
Miss Clara Stintson. The home of the Perley s was the abode
of hospitality and generous social life. The genial character of
the host, his remarkable conversational powers and ready wit
added great attraction to his hospitable board. Many distin-
guished people were entertained by Squire Perley and his
charming wife. Among their frequent guests were Chief
Justice Parsons and his wife; and other judges and many noted
lawyers of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, whose duties
brought them to the Kennebec.
Nathaniel Perley died , in 1824. Mrs. Mary Dummer
^ The Law, the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine, p. 202.
2 Charles Dummer, Esq,
Wilde
139
Perley died January 7, 1838. Their last surviving daughter
was Louisa, the wife of John P. Dumont, Esq., of Hallowell.
Hon. Samuel Sumner Wilde, who has been called ''one of
the greatest ornaments of the Maine bar," was born February
5, 1771. He was the son of Daniel and Anna Sumner Wilde
of Taunton, Massachusetts. In 1789, he completed his colle-
giate course at Dartmouth, and then read law with Judge
Barnes of Taunton. In 1799, he removed to Hallowell; and,
''having no superior at the bar, and indeed no equal," he built
up a large practice and soon attained a position which reflected
great honor upon the town, and the county of Kennebec.
In speaking of Judge Wilde's professional career at
Hallowell, Chief Justice Shaw once said: "By the course of
his early studies, and by extensive practice at the bar with
eminent lawyers, his contemporaries, he acquired, before his
elevation to the bench, a deep and thoroughly accurate knowl-
edge of the great principles and rules of the common law in all '
its various ramifications. . . . Practicing in a part of the
Commonwealth where great interests were drawn in question,
depending on the law of real property; where the highest
honors and awards of the profession awaited the practicer who
was best versed in the knowledge and practice of this branch
of the law, his mind became so familiar with its minute and
apparently subtle distinctions that he could apply them
promptly, like simplest principles, to complicated cases." ^
In 1 81 7, when the brilliant reputation of this early and
most successful practitioner at Hallowell had reached its
height, the honor of an appointment as Judge of the Supreme
Court was conferred upon him. Judge Wilde continued to
reside in Hallowell until the separation of Maine from Massa-
chusetts, in 1820, at which time he removed/ to Newburyport.
For thirty-five years he adorned- the bench "by sound learning,
undeviating impartiality, and great dignity of deportment."
At the advanced age of eighty years, he resigned his office ;
^ The Law, the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine, p. 176.
140 Old Hallow ell on the Kennebec
and the bench and bar, at that time, manifested by appropriate
resolutions, "their high sense of his ability and uprightness
through the whole course of his ofificial judicial life." The
degree of LL. D. was conferred upon Judge Wilde by
Bowdoin, Dartmouth, and Harvard colleges.
In 1792, Samuel Sumner Wilde married Miss Eunice
Cobb, daughter of General David Cobb of Taunton. Their
children were: William Cobb, b. 1792; Eunice Cobb, b. 1794, m.
Williams Emmons; Samuel Sumner, b. 1796; Eleanor Bradish,
b. 1798, m. John Wendell Mellen, of Cambridge; George
Cobb, b. 1800, m. Ann Janette Druce, daughter of Lemuel
Brown, of Wrentham; Caroline Elizabeth, b. 1802, m. Hon.
Caleb Gushing of Newburyport; Henry Jackson, b. 1804, m.
Ellen Maria Whitney of Wrentham; Isaac Parker, b. 1808;
Ann Sumner, b. 1809, m. first, Frederick W. Doane, second,
Robert Farley of Ipswich.
Judge Wilde and his family resided in the fine old mansion
known to a later generation as the Emmons house. This
house, in point of architectural style and interior finish, was
one of the most beautiful in the town. Its long piazzas, its
spacious hall, its arched doorways, and its elegant drawing
room with colonial mantlepieces and elaborately carved wood-
work, gave to the house an air of state and elegance not
surpassed in any of the old-time mansions of Hallowell.
In his home life Judge Wilde was always cordial, genial
and affable. His intercourse with his fellovvmen was always
marked by warmth and kindness of heart, and courtesy of
manner. "The private and personal worth of this eminent
magistrate was in strict harmony with his official merits, and,
indeed, formed a part of them. His bearing upon the bench
indicated the man. Simple in his tastes, of industrious habits,
of a cheerful spirit, of warm domestic affections, and strong
rehgious faith, he never lost his interest in life, and nothing of
him but his body grew old. He was frank, direct, calmly
courageous, and of unalloyed simplicity; caring as little to
conceal what he was, as to affect what he was not." '
^ Willis' The Law^ the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine, p. 178.
JuDGK vSamuel Sumner Wilde
Bond
141
Mrs. Eunice Wilde died June 6, 1826. Judge Samuel S.
Wilde died June 25, 1855.
The first student who fitted for Harvard at the Hallowell
Academy was Thomas Bond. He was a young man of excep-
tional ability who had maintained high rank during his course of
study. After his graduation from college in 1 801, he entered
the law office of Samuel Wilde in Hallowell, in order to prepare
himself for practice at the Maine bar. Thomas Bond was the
son of Thomas Bond of Augusta, and a descendant of one of
the early settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts. He was a
diligent student, and evinced such aptitude for the law that,
upon his admittance to the bar, Mr. Wilde at once took him
into partnership with himself. Mr. Bond thus began his
practice in Hallowell under the most favorable auspices. ''No
better proof," writes Mr. Willis, ''can be furnished of the high
qualities of Mr. Bond than this substantial token of his merit."
On December i, 1805, Mr. Bond married Lucretia F.
Page, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Page. The children of this
marriage were: Francis Eugene, born February 7, 1808; died
September 5, 1840. Lucretia, born January 17, 1810; married
Dr. Franklin Page of Augusta; died 1846. Caroline M., born
January 9, 181 5, married Thomas H. Sanford of New York; died
January 11, 1853.
During the first years of their married life, the Bonds lived
in the house south of the Hallowell House. Mr. Bond after-
wards built the large and handsome house on Warren Street,
subsequently occupied by the Glaziers, and still later by the
Atkins family.
In 181 5, Samuel Wilde was appointed to the Supreme
Bench ; and the whole of the extensive law bi^siness of the firm
of Wilde and Bond was from that time conducted by the junior
partner. "His labors became severe and responsible; it was a
hard task to sustain the structure which had rested on the
athletic shoulders of Wilde; but Mr. Bond acquitted himself
with ability, both in the details of the office and the wider
fields of the forum. For more than twenty years he maintained
142
Old Hallowell on the Kefinebec
a high and honorable position at the bar and in society, faith-
fully fulfilling all trusts, and acquiring the reputation of a
sound lawyer, an ingenious advocate, and an upright man."
During all the years of arduous labor in his profession,
Mr. Bond found time to devote to the political interests of his
town and county. He represented Hallowell in the General
Court of Massachusetts in 1 813-14; and was a member of the
Maine senate from Kennebec in 1822-23.
Hon. Thomas Bond died suddenly, March 29, 1827. "The
Supreme Judicial Court was then in session, and upon the
announcement of his death, by Peleg Sprague, Judge Weston
as a tribute of respect ordered an immediate adjournment of
the court, and the bar resolved to attend his funeral and wear
crape upon the left arm for thirty days as a mark of respect for
their deceased brother. The resolutions placed on record by
the Kennebec bar have preserved the following tribute to the
character of Mr. Bond: ''His undeviating rectitude and distin-
guished ability in the practice of his profession, the uniform
sanity of his demeanor, the unstained purity of his private life
and scrupulous discharge of every duty, secured to him the
respect of the Bench, the affection of his brethren, the esteem
of his acquaintances, and the confidence of the community." '
In 1 817, two years after Judge Wilde had been appointed
to the Supreme Bench, and at the time when Thomas Bond
was just rising into eminence at the Kennebec bar, another
young lawyer of great promise opened an office in Hallowell.
This was Peleg Sprague, afterwards the distinguished Judge of
the District Court of the United States for Massachusetts.
Peleg Sprague was born April 28, 1793, the son of Seth
and Deborah Sprague of Duxbury, and a descendant of William
Sprague who settled in Salem, in 1629. He was graduated
*'with prominent honor," from Harvard College in the brilliant
class of 1 812. His ''performance" at Commencement was a
dissertation on "the Superiority of Modern Europe."
^ 'North's History 0/ Augusia, p. 806,
Sprague
143
After his graduation, Mr. Sprague continued his studies at
the law school of Judges Reeves and Gould, in Litchfield,
Connecticut, which offered unusual advantages to the student at
that time. In 181 5, he was admitted to the bar, and came first
to Augusta, but two years later settled for the practice of his
profession at Hallowell.
"The bar of Kennebec," writes WiUis, contained able
lawyers and advocates; among them were Judges Bridge and
Fuller, Ruel Williams, Frederic Allen, Thomas Bond, and
Timothy Boutelle. It required industry, perseverance, and a
high ambition, as well as intellectual powers, to compete
successfully with such men who had acquired the confidence of
the communities in which they lived, by ability and honorable
practice. But Mr. Sprague, nothing discouraged by such an
array of talent, but rather stimulated by it, steadily and
patiently waited for the success that was sure to follow a
persistent and earnest endeavor to attain the higher ranks and
honors of the profession. His agreeable and eloquent manner
as an advocate, his acknowledged ability as a lawyer, soon
introduced him to a profitable business. . . . The death in
1827, of Mr. Bond, of the same town, who was enjoying the
entire confidence of the people, in his profession, gave an
accession to the engagements of Mr. Sprague, and a more
prominent position.
''Mr. Sprague's style of speaking, both at the bar and in
public assemblies, was so entirely different from what the
people in the county had been accustomed to hear, that it
attracted them by its novelty, and interested them by its
beauty. . . . And his popularity was not confined to the bar,
but extended through the community, and made him a desirable
candidate for pubHc office. ... In 1820, he was elected a
representative from Hallowell to the first legislature of the new
state, and re-elected the subsequent year. His political course
was now onward." ^ In 1824, Mr. Sprague was elected to
Congress from the Kennebec district; and again, to the
Twentieth Congress. "During both of these terms, he engaged
I Willis p. 628-^.
144
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
in debates on important questions, and always attracted atten-
tion by his able and eloquent advocacy of the measures which
he espoused." ^
During his two terms as representative in congress, Mr.
Sprague became so popular, both at home and in political
circles at Washington, that in 1829, he was chosen senator to
succeed General Chandler. His service in the senate was
marked by unimpeachable integrity and distinguished honor;
his reputation was that of an able, intrepid, sagacious, and
eloquent statesman.
On July 14, 1834, when Senator Sprague returned from
Congress, he was given a great ovation by the people of the
three sister towns of Hallowell, Augusta, and Gardiner. As
soon as it was announced that Mr. Sprague would arrive by
the stage route from Brunswick, there was a spontaneous
outburst of enthusiasm. The people of Hallowell assembled
on horses, in chaises, barouches, and other carriages, and were
joined by a cavalcade of thirty or forty riders on horseback and
a large number of chaises from Augusta. This wildly enthu-
siastic retinue then proceeded to Gardiner, where the towns-
people had formed in procession. Here an elegant barouche
drawn by four handsome gray horses, awaited the home-coming
senator. Accompanied in this carriage by Judge Kingsbury
and Hon. George Evans, Senator Sprague was escorted to
Hallowell like an old Roman returning in triumph from his
conquests. The cavalcade was mile in length; and it was
said that every presentable carriage in the three towns was in
evidence on this occasion. The procession passed through
streets decorated with flags and patriotic mottos, and the
saying, 'T AM NO MAN'S MAN," from Senator Sprague's
speech on the President's Protest^ was conspicuous on the
banners.
After the arrival of Mr. Sprague and his constituents at
the Hallowell House, a speech of welcome was made by Mr.
Richard H. Vose of Augusta. Mr. Sprague then addressed,
from the balcony, the enthusiastic crowds below, and paid a
I Willis, p. 628-9.
Warren
145
warm tribute to the constancy of the Whig party in support of
the principles it professed.
In 1835, Mr. Sprague resigned his seat in the Senate and
estabUshed himself in the practice of his profession at Boston.
New honors here awaited him; and in 1841, on the retirement
of the venerable and honored Judge Davis from the bench of
the District Court of the United States, Mr. Sprague was
appointed to that office. In 1847, Harvard College bestowed
upon Judge Sprague the degree of LL. D.
Judge Sprague married Sarah Deming of Utica, New
York, a native of Berlin, Connecticut. They had three sons
and one daughter: Charles F., born May 25, 1819, died 1840,
aged twenty-one years; Seth Edward, born April 12, 1822, a
graduate of Harvard in 1 841, and of the Law School in 1843,
and afterwards clerk of the United States District Court in
Massachusetts; Francis Peleg, graduate of Harvard Medical
School in 1857; ^nd Sarah, born May 7, 1828, wife of George
P. Upham, a merchant of Boston. '
A contemporary journal in writing of Senator Sprague,
makes this comment: "Mr. Sprague richly merits all the
honors that have been bestowed upon him. Throughout his
public life his course has been consistent, honorable to himself,
and useful to his country. In private life his character is
unexceptionable. Such men are invaluable. They cannot be
too highly estimated."
Hon. Ebenezer T. Warren, born at Foxborough, Massachu-
setts, September 11, 1779, was the son of Ebenezer and Ann
Warren. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1800, and
admitted to the bar in 1803. He soon after established himself
at Hallowell ; and by his ability, his generous i^ature, his cordial
manners, and his devoted public spirit, he acquired a large
practice and attained an eminent place in the community.
Mr. Warren married Abiah, daughter of William and
Tryphena Morse, Their children were : Ann Tryphena, born
^ The Law. the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine, p. 634.
146
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
November 14, 1810, and John, born September 20, 1816.
Being possessed of ample means, Mr. Warren built for his
home the large, handsome house on the corner of Central and
Warren Streets, known in more recent years as the main
building of the Classical School. The beautiful home of the
Warrens was maintained in elegance and luxury ; and traditions
still exist of the delightful hospitality dispensed beneath its
roof. When the house was first completed, an old-time house-
warming was given at which a large number of the friends and
relatives of Mr. and Mrs. Warren were sumptuously enter-
tained. Soon after this, a "splendid ball" was given in honor
of the daughter of the house. Miss Anne Warren. It is stated
by Rev. John S. C. Abbott that in "style of living, dress, and
address," the Warrens were "ornaments to society."
In addition to the erection of his fine residence, Mr.
Warren built two blocks of stores in Hallowell. He was
deeply interested in the development of the place and exerted
all his efforts to promote its financial prosperity. He was
president of the Hallowell Bank when that unfortunate insti-
tution became insolvent ; and he unselfishly sacrificed the most
of his own property to sustain the credit of this bank.
In the hope of retrieving his fortunes, Mr. Warren under-
took the business of settling some war claims in Illinois that
had been granted to the soldiers of 181 2. In order to transact
this business, Mr. Warren was obliged to go to Illinois; and
while in that state, he died very suddenly in August, 1 829, from
an illness resulting from exposure during a night's drive across
the prairies.
The news of the sad and unexpected death of Mr. Warren
cast a great gloom over his townspeople in Hallowell where he
was greatly beloved and esteemed. Through his death the
legal profession of Maine suffered an acknowleged loss; and
"resolutions" expressive of sorrow and lasting esteem were
passed by the bar of which he was a worthy and honored
member.
After the death of Mr. Warren, the beautiful house that
he had built for his family passed through the hands of several
successive owners. It was occupied, at one time, by Judge
Otis
147
Samuel Wells, afterwards by Colonel Thomas Andrews, then
passed into the possession of Hon. John Otis. It next became
the residence of Moses Lakeman; and was subsequently
purchased and enlarged for the use of the Hallowell Classical
School.
The Hon. John Otis was born August 3, 1801. He was
the son of Oliver and Betsey Stanchfield Otis of Leeds, Maine,
and was descended from the Otis family of Massachusetts of
which James Otis and Harrison Gray Otis were representative
members. With this ancestry behind him, and having the
advantages of a liberal education, Mr. Otis naturally possessed
those personal and mental qualities which won for him the
sincere regard of his fellow townsmen, and rendered him
successful in his professional life. He was graduated from
Bowdoin College in 1823, read law with Peleg Sprague, and
commenced practice in Hallowell in 1826, at the time when
Mr. Sprague was just entering upon his congressional career.
In 1824, the forty-eighth anniversary of the American'
Independence was celebrated with much interest by the
citizens of Hallowell; and Mr. Otis, then a young law student
in the office of Judge Peleg Sprague, was invited to deliver the
Fourth of July oration. *'The day was uncommonly fine; and
everything concurred to render the celebration highly inter-
esting and satisfactory. At eleven o'clock a procession was
formed at Mr. Dillingham's hotel, and proceeded to the Rev.
Mr. Gillet's meeting-house, where a pure and classical oration
was pronounced by Mr. John Otis, in which he entered into an
examination of the present state of liberty in our own country
and in Europe, and the reciprocal influence of the institutions
and political systems of the two continents upon each other.
The style was clear and forcible and the pentiments highly
patriotic." ^ /
The celebration of the Fourth in Hallowell was always a
great event, which commanded the best talent of the town and
called out large audiences. It is interesting to know that on
^ American Advocate, July lo, 1824.
148
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
the day of Mr. Otis* oration "the wall pews and galleries were
reserved for the ladies, whose presence added great eclat to
the occasion."
On January 12, 1831, Mr. Otis married Harriet Frances
Vaughan, daughter of Colonel William Oliver Vaughan, and
granddaughter of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan. The children of
this marriage were: William Oliver, b. December 18, 1831, d.
January i, 1888; Maria, b. September 30, 1834, m. William H.
Merrick, October 18, 1854; John, b. December 24, 1836, d.
October i6j 1838; Frances, b. May 17, 1839, d. June 13, 1839;
Benjamin Vaughan, b. May 15, 1840, d. September 24, 1861;
John, b. July 16, 1843; Frances, b. September 25, 1845, d.
December, i860.
Mrs. Harriet Frances Vaughan Otis died July 26, 1846.
On August 21, 1848, Mr. Otis married Ellen Grant, daughter
of Captain Samuel and Elizabeth Frances Vaughan Grant.
Mrs. Ellen Grant Otis was a granddaughter of Dr. Benjamin
Vaughan, and a cousin of the first wife of Mr. Otis. The
children of John and Ellen Grant Otis were: Samuel Grant,
Mary, and Elizabeth Grant.
Mr. Otis, a man of keen intellect, and of unusual legal abil-
ity, possessed those qualities of mind that eminently fitted him
for membership in a deliberative or legislative assembly. Like
many of the eminent lawyers of his day, he became interested
in politics, and was chosen to represent Hallowell in the state
legislature. He soon rose to prominence in the Whig party,
and became one of its recognized leaders. In 1 841, he was
appointed a member of the United States Commission on the
North Eastern Boundary Question. In 1848, Mr. Otis was
elected representative from the first district of Maine to the
Thirty-first Congress, in which he "served with ability and
distinction, and contributed in no small degree to the passage
of the act reducing the high rate of postage." '
The Washington Correspondent of the Philadelphia In-
quirer at this time wrote: "Hon. John Otis of Maine, at
present acting as chairm.an of the Committee on Patents of the
^ Hon. Frederick Allen.
Otis
149
House of Representatives, is a man of splendid business
capacity and pursues his object with a perseverance and energy-
sure to accompHsh success."
Mr. Otis' career in Washington was such as won for him
many warm friends and admirers; and at the close of his last
term of office, the members of the House of Representatives
arose in a body and cheered him as he left the hall. This was
a spontaneous tribute in recognition of the public services and
personal popularity of Mr. Otis.
Hon. Frederick Allen, in his sketches of the Early
Lawyers of Lincoln and Kennebec Counties,'' states that Mr.
Otis was "bland and courteous in his manners and address;
and distinguished for his kindness of heart and disposition."
This kindliness was very forcibly shown in his relations with
the young men and boys who worked for him or studied in his
office. It is a well-known fact that Mr. Otis always gave a
loan of five hundred dollars to any of the young men who
desired it upon leaving his employ. Among the men whom
Mr. Otis thus started in life, and whose subsequent careers
must have proved a satisfaction to him, were Elihu Washburne,
Secretary of State, and Minister to France in 1869-70, and
General Oliver O. Howard, Maine's famous hero of the Civil
War.
In a letter recently written to Mr. Samuel G. Otis of
Hallo well, General Howard pays a warm tribute to the bene-
factor of his youth. This letter affords a pleasant glimpse into
the home life of the Otis family, which many of the Hallowell
friends will recognize as not only delightful but genuinely true.
"Among my earliest recollections," writes General Howard,
"was the devotion of my mother to her brother, John Otis,
Esq., of Hallowell, Maine. She spoke of him often and of
Aunt Frances, his wife. My mother alw/kys expressed a
sisterly interest in everything that concerned his welfare. As
the children came, one by one, William, Maria, Vaughan, and
John, they seemed to me like a part of our own household. At
least once a year, when the weather was warm and comfortable,
your father was accustomed to take Aunt Frances, WilHam,
and Maria in his beautiful chaise and drive out twenty miles to
150
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Leeds to our home. His horse, harness, and carriage were
finer than any others that came to our house. ... I can
recollect your father's voice as he laughed and talked. It was
a very sweet, cheery, strong voice. In conversation he had a
charm about him that won men to his way of thinking, and a
courtesy to women that was remarkable. . . .
''My mother arranged with him when I was eleven years
old to go to his home in Hallowell and do as my cousin, Addison
Martin, had done, namely, take care of the horse and cow and
stable and do all the ordinary chores which a man or boy would
do for any household. I was to keep myself in proper trim to
associate with my cousins, and was to go to school every day
while school lasted. . . .
''When your brother William, in 1850, was appointed to
West Point as a cadet, your father was then a member of the
House of Representatives. . . . William failed in his physical
examination. His chest was not broad enough to meet the
requirement in physical development. I understood that your
father said he would send a young man in his place who was
strong enough physically to pass the examination. He had me
in mind when he made that remark. I was nineteen years of
age when I received the appointment. ... I never saw
very much of your father after his second marriage though I
knew your mother very well when we were both children.
She was a very frank, hearty, and handsome girl and quite a
favorite among the young people about the time I left Hallowell
for my home in Leeds. . . .
''At one time your brother William and myself with a few
other boys were sitting in a pew in the gallery of the Old
South Church. I think we must have whispered, laughed, and
probably made some little disturbance as boys sometimes do
during the service. One of the deacons of the church came to
the pew, seized each boy by the collar and led him out, and, if
I remember rightly, sent us home. My uncle, your father, was
very much offended at this act, and would never go to that
church again. When he did go to church, he attended the
Unitarian, which was nearer to his house than the Old South.
Aunt Frances was very much afflicted because of this jar in
Emmons
151
the church relationship. With his consent, however, she always
attended the Old South with us children, and kept up her
relationship there. This one incident indicated to me your
father's readiness to defend his family. What he resented was
the violent conduct of the deacon in the presence of the whole
congregation towards William and myself. He would have
thanked him for reporting our misbehavior, or any misbehavior
on our part.
"Now I think I can give you the impressions which I have
had of your good father all my life. He was a man of excellent
character, of high standing in the community, a good represen-
tative in Congress, always belonging to the Whig party. He
was a great reader, fond of English publications, and kept
abreast of the times in everything that concerned the public
good. It seems to me to-day that a member of Congress like
him was held in higher esteem by the entire district in which
he lived than are representatives of to-day. ... At home
no father could be more thoroughly gentle and kind. It was
a joy to him to have his children come into the library to
consult him about their studies. I remember how he aided me
in my early attempts at composition by a few suggestions and
well chosen words. ... I have always loved my Uncle
John; and he has been a model to me, among our numerous
relatives, a model of good breeding, of virtue, of culture, of
refinement, of manliness."
The Hon. John Otis died October 17, 1856. After his
death, the family removed from the Otis' house on Central
Street to the old Grant mansion which is now in the possession
of Mr. Samuel Grant Otis and Miss Elizabeth Otis.
Judge Williams Emmons was the son of the Rev. Nathaniel
and Martha Emmons of Franklin, Massachusetts. Nathaniel
Emmons, the father of Williams Emmons, was a graduate of
Yale in 1 767, and a congregational minister who had the very
remarkable record of having occupied the pulpit for seventy
years. He was a man of distinction in his day; and his sermons
152 Old Hallow ell on the Kennebec
and other writings were published m several volumes after his
death in 1840. He lived to the great age of ninety-six years,
and always wore the small-clothes and cocked-up hat of the
eighteenth century. Of the Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, D. D.,
Mr. John H. Sheppard writes as follows: well remember
the admiration this venerable man excited, as he entered the
sanctuary in Hallo well, three years before his death. It
seemed as though Elijah, the Tishbite, had come again from
Mt. Carmel, to point out a little cloud of refreshment soon to
spread over our eastern horizon, when this venerable Patriarch
suddenly rose among us."
Williams Emmons, son of Rev. Nathaniel, was born in
Franklin, May 2, 1784. He was graduated in 1805, with high
honors, from Brown University. At the close of his college
course, he came to Hallowell, and entered the law office of
Judge Samuel Wilde. On finishing his law studies, Mr.
Emmons began practice at Brown's Corner, Vassalborough,
but soon removed to Augusta, where he entered into partnership
with Mr. Benjamin Whitwell. In 1832, Mr. Emmons was
elected member of the House of Representatives from Augusta;
and, in 1835-6, he was senator for Kennebec County. He
removed from Augusta to Hallowell in 1835.
Mr. Emmons was recognized as an able and well-read
lawyer. He prepared his cases with conscientious painstaking,
and, by his clear logical reasoning, commended himself to both
the jury and the bench. His integrity, his soundness of
judgment, and his thorough knowledge of the technicalities
of the law were unquestioned. He was frequently appointed
as a referee in difficult cases, and his decisions were rarely
disputed. He succeeded Judge Fuller as Judge of Probate
in 1841.
In private life. Judge Emmons was highly esteemed as a
friend and neighbor. North speaks of him as a lawyer "of
pleasing address, upright and honorable in practice ; a worthy
citizen and a kind, considerate man of pure unblemished
character."
Judge Emmons married, May 24, 181 3, Eunice, daughter
of Judge Samuel Wilde. Their children were: Delia, born
Emmons
153
March 8, 1814, married, September 5, 1838, Rev. Benjamin
Tappan; and Eleanor Bradish Wilde, born July 7, 181 5, died
1845. Mrs. Eunice Williams died in 1821; and, on September
22, 1823, Judge Emmons married Lucy Vaughan, daughter of
Dr. Benjamin and Sarah Manning Vaughan. Their children
were: Lucy Maria, born September 13, 1824; Martha Williams,
born May 11, 1827, died January 27, 1884; Nathaniel Williams,
born June 10, 1830, died October 17, 1831; Henry Vaughan,
born November 3, 1832; Ellen Sarah, born May 25, 1836.
Judge Emmons and his family resided in the fine old
mansion that had been previously occupied by Judge Wilde,
Gideon Farrell, Esq., and Judge Pel eg Sprague. The traditions
of hospitality and cultured social life that had always been
associated with this house were fully maintained during the
many years of its occupancy by the Emmons family. The life
here lived was a fine example of that simple and unostentatious
culture and refinement that marked the homes of many of the
old families of Hallo well. All of the members of the Emmons
household were actively interested in the church, the library,
and all the literary and philanthropic movements in the town.
Miss Lucy Emmons was for many years librarian of the
Hallowell Social Library, giving her services gratuitously and
enthusiastically to this work.
The Rev, Henry Vaughan Emmons is a graduate of
Amherst College, and a man of rare scholarly attainments.
He married September 5, 1855, Annie Shepard, daughter of
Rev. George Shepard of Bangor. Their children are : Williams,
Lucy Vaughan, Elizabeth Fuller, Henry Manning, and Mary
Williams. Mr. Emmons is now the pastor of the Congrega-
tional church at Northboro, Massachusetts.
Judge Williams Emmons died at Hallowell, October 3,
1855. Mrs. Williams Emmons died March^ 18, 1869. The
Emmons mansion, which was in some respects the most
beautiful old house in Hallowell was unfortunately destroyed
by fire, and with it perished many valuable heirlooms, including
portraits, books, letters, and other valuable papers, the loss of
which must always be deplored.
154
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Hon. William Clark was born in Hallowell, October 12,
1788. He was the son of Isaac and Alice Philbrook Clark, and
grandson of Deacon Pease Clark. William Clark was graduated
from Bowdoin College in 1810 with a well-merited reputation
for superior scholarship. The natural tendency of his mind is
indicated by the subject of his commencement part: "The
Moral Effects of Philosophical Investigation."
The Bowdoin College records state that Mr. Clark was
"capable of profound research, and that his retentive memory
enabled him to preserve for ready use the results of his
extensive reading and study. As a lawyer, he ranked with
the foremost representatives of the Kennebec bar. His profes-
sional labors were characterized by undeviating integrity, a
clear intellectual insight, and a profound acquaintance with the
principles of the law. As a legislator, he was zealous and
faithful. His immediate influence was great, and was exercised
for the right both in action and debate."
Mr. William Clark married, August 2, 181 8, Elizabeth
Bodwell Morse, daughter of William and Tryphena -Morse, a
woman of superior ability and most attractive personality.
Their children were : W^illiam Henry, Elizabeth, Charlotte Ann,
and Mary Mann. Mr. William Henry Clark, a graduate of
Bowdoin (1837), studied law, and removed to San Francisco,
where he had a successful professional career. Charlotte Clark
married Hon. George S. Peters of Ellsworth. Miss Elizabeth
Clark and Miss Mary Clark are now living in Waltham,
Massachusetts.
Hon. William Clark, after the death of his wife, whose loss
he felt severely, withdrew from active participation in public
and professional life, and spent his remaining years in almost
complete seclusion. He occupied his time in his favorite
pursuits, which included the studies of chemistry, geology,
mathematics, and philosophy. He never lost his interest in
abstruse points of law, or in discussing them in his own home
with his old associates of the Kennebec bar. "Thus busily,
yet quietly," writes his biographer, "did this sorrow-stricken
man, this intellectual and interesting recluse, descend into the
vale of years. He died May 18, 1855, at the age of sixty-six."
Paine
In the year 1834, the mantle of the law, many times honored
in Hallowell, fell upon the shoulders of Henry W. Paine, Esq.
It is probable that no advocate with a more astute mind than
that of Mr. Paine ever stood before the Kennebec bar. His
keen insight into abstruse and knotty points of the law seemed
intuitive and almost infallible. It is stated that he was often
called upon as Referee and Master of Chancery in a great
number of difficult and complicated cases, and that his decis-
ions, which often involved the unravelling of tangled webs of
testimony and the consideration of the nicest and most delicate
questions of the law, were always "luminous and masterly."
This eminent lawyer was born August 30, 1810, in
Winslow, Maine. He graduated at Waterville College, studied
law with William Clark, Esq., of Hallowell, and for one year in
the law school of Harvard University. He began his profes-
sional life at Hallowell, where, during the next twenty years,
he acquired a practice not surpassed by any other Maine lawyer.
In 1854, to the great regret of his many friends in ^
Hallowell, Mr. Paine removed to Cambridge and opened a
law office in Boston. His practice and his fame as a lawyer
steadily increased; and he became known as one of the ablest
advocates of the Massachusetts bar. About 1875, Mr. Paine
withdrew from active practice in the courts on account of ill
health and partial deafness, but retained for ten years his office
as lecturer on ''the law of real property" at the law school of
Boston University. Mr. Paine was especially noted for his
tact and never-failing courtesy in the prosecution of his law
cases. The following story of his ready wit is often told in
Hallowell :
On one occasion during Mr. Paine's term of service as
county attorney, a man who had been indicted in Kennebec
county for arson, was tried and acquitted by the jury on the
ground that he was an idiot. After the trial,' the judge sought
to reconcile Mr. Paine to the ' verdict by some explanatory
remarks. "Oh, I am quite satisfied, your Honor," said Mr.
Paine, "with the acquittal of the defendant. He has been tried
by a jury of \{v^ peers!'
Mr. Paine married, May, 1837, Miss Lucy E. Coffin, of
156
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Newburyport, a lady of rare mental endowments and endearing
personality. Their daughter, Miss Jennie Warren Paine, is
remembered with warm affection and admiration by the friends
of her girlhood. In Cambridge, she was recognized as a
thorough and brilliant student, especially in the languages and
the sciences. She was said by Agassiz to have the brightest
mind of any young woman he had ever met. Mrs. Paine and
her daughter were bo;:h interested in all philanthropic and
charitable movements, and were devoted members of the First
Parish Church of Cambridge.
William Belcher Glazier was born at Hallowell, June 29,
1827. He was the son of Franklin Glazier, Esq., well known
as the head of the publishing house of Glazier, Masters, and
Smith. Endowed with unusual mental ability and a most
engaging personality, this gifted youth grew up in the midst of
stimulating influences, and his talents matured early in his life.
He graduated from Harvard in 1847, at the age of twenty
years. He read law in Hallowell with Henry W. Paine, Esq.,
was admitted to the bar in 1850, and speedily built up a
reputation as a successful lawyer, first in Newcastle and after-
wards in his native town. In 1855, seeking a wider field for
his professional labors, Mr. Glazier removed to Cincinnati,
Ohio, where he continued the practice of law until his death
in 1870.
In addition to his brilliant professional attainments, Mr.
Glazier possessed unusual literary and poetic talent. He was
an esteemed contributor to the Knickerbocker Magazine, and
the author of a volume of verse published in Hallowell in 1853.
Mr. Glazier's poetic work was highly commended by Mr.
William Cullen Bryant, who selected the lines entitled Cape
Cottage, as a representative poem for the Library of Poetry
and Song.
William Belcher Glazier married, at St. Paul's church,
Cincinnati, January i, 1863, Margaret Lowry, a lady of Scotch
parentage, of Shelby County, Kentucky. Two children of
this marriage are Margaret Lowry, now Mrs. Louis Adams of
Judge Henry Knox Baker
Baker
157
Melford, Ohio, and William L. Glazier, Superintendent of the
City Water Works, Newport, Kentucky.
The long and honorable career of Judge Baker in Hallowell
covers a period of eighty-six years ; and the impress of his work
and character remains distinctly marked upon our newspapers,
our public schools, our libraries, our banks, our courts, our
benevolent institutions, our churches, and all that constitutes
the well-being of the town.
When Henry Knox Baker first came, as a youth of four-
teen, to Hallowell, he entered a printing office as an apprentice;
and before he was twenty-one, he was duly installed as editor
of the Hallowell Gazette and afterwards as editor of the
American Advertiser. In 1836, he began the study of law in
the ofiice of Samuel Wells, and in 1840, was admitted to the
bar. He represented the town of Hallowell in the Maine
Legislature in 1842 and 1844, and again in 1854. In 1855, he
was appointed Judge of Probate, an office which he held for
twenty-six years. He was also the founder and, for forty-five
years, the treasurer of the Hallowell Savings Institution.
Judge Baker was deeply interested in all educational and
philanthropic work; and his work for the Industrial School,
and his services as chairman of the public school committee,
have long been recognized. He was also an earnest supporter
of the mission of the public library in Hallowell. From his
youth. Judge Baker had been a genuine lover of books. He
possessed the critical and literary instinct, and was himself a
ready writer. His published works consist of poems; bio-
graphical and historical essays; sketches of foreign travel; a
valuable work on hymnology, entitled Studies In Sacred Song;
and The Hallowell Book, compiled after he was ninety years
of age. For half a century Judge Baker Vas a faithful and
devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; and his
whole life was an example of practical and consistent Chris-
tianity. It has been truly said that Hallowell never had a
citizen of higher integrity or more constant devotion and
usefulness than Judge Baker."
158
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Henry Knox Baker was born in Canaan (now Skowhegan),
December 2, 1806. His father was Amos Baker, a soldier of
the Revolution, and a member of the Life Guard of General
Washington. His mother was Betsey Weston, a member of
the prominent Skowhegan family of that name. On November
I5> 1^35) Mr. Baker was united in marriage to Miss Sarah W.
Lord, daughter of Ephraim and Sally Dennis Lord of Hallowell,
and a lineal descendant of Lieutenant James Lord, a Revolu-
tionary hero who led his company in the battle of Bunker Hill.
Mrs. Baker was a rarely gifted woman of charming
personality and brilliant mental endowments. Her devoted
motherhood left its imprint upon her own family; and her
fondness for other young people, and the unusual felicity of
the welcome with which they were always greeted under her
roof, rendered the Baker home one of the most alluring and
enjoyable in the town. Many other children thus shared with
the Baker family the helpful and elevating influences of a home
where there was always an atmosphere of books, and where
literary topics and the interesting questions of the day were
freely discussed.
When the Baker children were small, it was the custom of
their father to read to them every Sunday afternoon from some
instructive but always interesting book, the value of which
was greatly enhanced by the fact that the children were not
allowed to read it on any other day. They all, therefore, looked
forward to the Sabbath, not with doleful anticipation, but as a
bright and happy day set apart for something especially enjoy-
able. Novels, however, were not allowed on Sunday; and on
one woeful occasion the Baker children came to grief. It
chanced that, on one quiet Sunday afternoon, the father and
mother were suddenly disturbed by shrieks of uproarious
laughter from the children's room above. The mother imme-
diately went up-stairs to learn the cause of this unseemly mirth,
and found her little daughters sitting upon the floor, convulsed
with paroxisms of laughter, while the naughty but hilarious
Sanford read aloud to them the adventures of 'Bimleck," from
the pages of Neighbor Jackwood. The book was mildly but
firmly taken from his unwilling hands; and the mother, we
Mrs. Sarah Lord Baker
I
i
Baker
159
know, had a bit of a heartache as she departed with the alluring
story.
But notwithstanding her devotion to her family and the
careful and judicious training which she gave her children, Mrs.
Baker was not a woman who lived within the four square walls
of her own home. Her horizon was not limited, but had a
broad outlook on the world at large. She took an active part
in all the educational, patriotic, and philanthropic movements
in Hallowell. She was, for many years, the efficient president
of the time-honored Benevolent Society, and was also an able
and judicious worker in the temperance cause. She was a
devoted member of the Old South Church, and gave her
gracious and faithful services to the younger children of the
Sunday school for many years. By her strong personality, her
brilliant mental gifts, her heartsome hospitality, her generous
charity, and her devoted religious life, Mrs. Baker has left an
impress upon our community not soon to be effaced.
The sons and daughters of the Baker family, true to their
natural inheritance, were all gifted with rare intellectual
endowments. One daughter, Mrs. Martha Baker Dunn, is
the author of three delightful novels. The Sleeping Beauty,
Memory Street, and ' Lias s Wife, of a volume of essays, entitled
Cicero In Maine, and of many poems marked by beauty of
thought and expression. Mrs. Dunn is the wife of Mr. R.
Wesley Dunn and resides in Waterville, Maine. In recognition
of her literary work, she has been honored by Colby College
with the degree of Doctor of Letters. Frances Weston Baker
married Hon. Albert Rice of Rockland. Ellen B. Baker
married Colonel Alfred E. Buck, member of Congress from
Georgia, and United States Minister to Japan. Annie S.
Baker married Frank A. Ham of Russell, Kansas. Harriet
Dennis Baker married Mr. Edwin C. Dudley of Augusta.
Sanford A. Baker married Miss Lulu Tayior and resides in
Chicago. Judge Baker died in Hallowell, June 28, 1902, at the
age of ninety-six. Mrs. Sarah Lord Baker died April 21, 1898.
XI
LATER REPRESENTATIVE FAMILIES
"There prevailed in those days a high-minded interest in every-
thing that lifted men up." — Rev. Henry V. Bmmons.
SN tracing the records of the old famiUes of Hallowell,
we have gradually passed from the first to the second
quarter of the nineteenth century. During this period
many of the honored founders of the town had passed
away, and new families had arrived that worthily maintained
the traditions of their predecessors. A record of all of these
interesting families, even in the briefest form, would require
a lengthy volume, and afford material for the most insatiable
genealogist; but the scope and aim of this story, of Old
Hallowell permit the mention of only a few of these later
representative families.
A notable and worthy connecting link between the earlier
and the later generation is furnished in the life of the Honorable
Samuel K. Oilman. A representative man of both periods,
Judge Oilman went in and out among the people for sixty-seven
years, living an open, unblemished, and useful life. His kindly
nature, his genial conversation, his sincerity of heart, his
integrity of character, and his devoted service to his church,
his town, and his state, appealed to his fellow citizens in an
unusual manner.
Judge Oilman was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, May 2,
1796. He was the son of Samuel and Martha Kinsman Oilman,
and a descendant of Edward Oilm.an who came to Boston in
the Diligent in 1638. Through one branch of their family,
the Oilmans are descended from Oovernor Simon Bradstreet
and his wife Anne Dudley, daughter of Oovernor Thomas
Dudley, whose record has been traced back through a long
line of illustrious ancestors to Robert Earl of Leicester, Lord
Gilman
i6i
Justice of England, and, still farther, to Hugh the Great, son
of Henry I. of France.
Entirely unconscious of this formidable pedigree, the
youthful Samuel grew up in the old town of Exeter. As a
boy, he was studious and fond of books, and absorbed all that
could be obtained from the curriculum of the common schools
of his day. He supplemented his education by an apprentice-
ship in a printing office, the advantages of which were apparent
in his subsequent career. In the War of 1812, he served in a
military company from Exeter. In 181 5, he came to Hallowell,
where he began life as a printer, and soon rose to the position
of editor and proprietor of the famous old Hallowell paper
called the American Advocate.
The Advocate was, at this time, the only Republican
paper east of Portland. In its columns, its editor ably main-
tained the strict principles of his party in opposition to the
Federalists, and successfully supported the movement for the
separation of Maine from Massachusetts.
In 1829, Mr. Gilman commenced the study of law with'
Hon. Peleg Sprague, and, in 1832, was admitted to the bar.
He represented Hallowell for four years in the Maine legis-
lature; and during his term of office, he served as chairman of
the finance committee with such zeal and care for the expendi-
ture of money that he won for himself the title of "watch-dog
of the treasury." Subsequently, from 1852 to 1872, he held
the office of judge of the municipal court in Hallowell, and
merited the reputation which he bore of being **a just judge
whose sentences were tempered with mercy." Judge Gilman
was also at one time, captain of the famous Hallowell Artillery,
and afterwards major of his regiment. His tall, imposing
figure and military bearing always commanded attention upon
the field.
When the Kennebec railroad was projected, Judge Gilman
was chosen as the legal representative of the railroad company
to purchase land and settle claims for damages in the town of
Hallowell. He was afterwards appointed station agent, an
office which he retained until his death, 1882.
Judge Gilman's service to the church, in which he offici-
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
ated as deacon for forty years, was characterized by the most
constant devotion to the cause of rehgion and to the spiritual
well-being of the community. It has been well said of him
that "his honesty of purpose and geniality of companionship
won for him the confidence of all with whom he came in contact
in social, professional, or religious life."
Judge Samuel K. Oilman married, April 25, 1821, Lucy
Gorham Dummer. Their children were: Gorham Dummer,
b. May 29, 1822, m. October 5, 1864, Lizzie A. Field; Sarah
Maria, b. 1826, d. September 24, 1827; Lucy Dummer, b.
August 2, 1828, d. July 10, 1838; Ellen Louisa Dummer, b.
May 21, 1831, m. November 2, 1854, Austin Abbott of New
York; Sarah Frances, b. January 15, 1835, d. November 26,
1878; John Abbott, b. June 24, 1837, m. October 22, 1861,
Louisa Sprague; Sophia Bond, b. July 8, 1840; Samuel
Kinsman, b. August 8, 1842, m. September 5, 1865, Belle J.
Wright, d. December 24, 1879. Judge Samuel K. Oilman died
December 26, 1882. Mrs. Lucy Dummer Oilman died August
14, 1875.
Mrs. Lucy Dummer Oilman, the wife of Hon. Samuel K.
Oilman, was born at Hallowell, August 20, 1802. She was the
daughter of Gorham and Sarah Abbott Dummer, and grand-
daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Kilton Dummer. Mrs.
Oilman was a woman of rare character, whose influence was felt
not only in the home where she was enshrined as wife and
mother, but throughout the whole community in which she
dwelt. It was Lucy Dummer, who, in her childhood, first led
by the hand to school the little cousin destined to become
known to fame as Jacob Abbott. Years afterwards, when
Jacob became a celebrated story-writer, he named his famous
"Lucy Books" in honor of Lucy Dummer, who was just such
a sweet, lovable little girl as the charming heroine of the
"Lucy Books." It was but natural that this charming and
lovable little girl should grow into "a lady of many beautiful
graces of character," and be "honored and beloved to a degree
above the common lot." Although an invalid for many years,
Mrs. Oilman was the inspiring center of a beautiful and
delightful home life. She lived for her husband, her children,
Dole
163
and her friends; and the Christian graces, the neighborly kind-
Hness, and lovable personality of Mrs. Gilman will long be
remembered in Hallowell.
Judge and Mrs. Gilman lived to commemorate the fiftieth
anniversary of their marriage. Their golden wedding" was
celebrated, April 24, 1871, in the old Dummer-Gilman house
hallowed by many family associations. This house was built
by Judge Nathaniel Dummer for his son Gorham Dummer.
Here Mrs. Mary Kilton Dummer, the widow of Judge Dummer,
lived in the family of her son. Here Lucy Dummer was born
and married to Samuel K. Gilman. Here she spent her life;
and here her sons and daughters passed their youthful years.
Four generations of the family have thus lived under the roof
of this ancestral dwelling.
Mr. Gorham D. Gilman, the oldest son of Judge Gilman,
was for twenty years a resident of Honolulu and was also
Consul General for Hawaii in the United States. On his
return to his own country, he, in company with his brother
John A. Gilman, established the house of Gilman Brothers,'
which has since occupied a prominent place in the wholesale
drug trade of Boston.
Samuel Kinsman Gilman, a young man of unusual promise,
also entered the drug business, and became a member of the
firm of Gilman Brothers. His death, at the early age of
thirty-seven, was deeply lamented. A Boston paper, in an
obituary notice, dwells upon his "fine business capacities, his
high sense of mercantile honor, his rare personal traits," and
his "helpful sympathy and unstinted generosity" in the
religious interests and philanthropic work of Boston.
Miss Sophia Bond Gilman is the only representative of
this family now residing in Hallowell. In her, the virtues,
gifts, and graces of a long and honorable ancestry have found
their full fruition. /
No resident of old Hallowell will be longer and more
distinctly remembered for his genial qualities, his philanthropic
spirit, and his marked individuality than Deacon Ebenezer
164 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Dole. A godly man, with "a passion for giving," and a heart
that never failed to respond to the call of the poor and
oppressed. Deacon Dole was foremost in all the reforms of the
day, and especially in the antislavery movement. With this
cause the name of Deacon Dole will always be identified. The
first antislavery society in Maine was organized at his house,
November 18, 1833. Its officers were Ebenezer Dole, pres-
ident; Paul Stickney, vice-president; R. Gardiner, treasurer;
George Shepard, corresponding secretary; Richard D. Rice,
recording secretary. These were the men who first flung the
unpopular and oft-maligned banner of antislavery to the breeze.
They boldly asserted *'the rights of man, the atrocious wick-
edness of slavery, and the duty to obey God and let the
oppressed go free." They unhesitatingly received into their
homes the young English emancipationist, George Thompson,
when he visited Maine in 1834. On the fifteenth of October,
Mr. Thompson spoke in Augusta. His meetings ''were
crowded with listeners who were delighted and inspired;" but
he was denounced by the press as "a mischief-maker coming
from England to teach Americans their politics." Mr.
Thompson was threatened with personal violence, and was
taken by his friends from a back window in Parson Tappan's
house, and secretly conveyed to Hallowell. He was followed
by the mob; and the church in which he spoke was attacked
by the rioters in the evening. Quiet, however, was speedily
enforced by the prompt and efficient action of the Hallowell
police; and before an enthusiastic audience, Mr. Thompson
completed his address.
Deacon Dole bravely consecrated himself, his talents, and
his money, to the antislavery cause. He met with much
opposition, even in his own church; and not infrequently, when
he lifted his voice in prayer for those in bondage, would some
other good brother arise and leave the vestry.
Ebenezer Dole was born in Newbury, March 12, 1776.
He married Hannah, daughter of John and Eunice Balch, in
1 814. Their children were: Ebenezer, born 181 5; Hannah,
born 1 81 7; Nathaniel, born 1819; Anna, born 1822; Mary, born
1824. Mrs. Dole was an estimable and charming woman and
Deacon Ebknezer Doi,e
Dole
contributed largely to the religious and social life of the circle
in which she moved. Her three daughters were bright, merry
girls, endowed with rare musical gifts and unusual personal
charms. The old residents of Hallowell still speak with
unabated enthusiasm of the beauty and brilliancy of the
daughters of Deacon Dole.
The second of these daughters, Mrs. De La Croix, is still
living in Oxford, North Carolina. In one of her recent letters
to her Hallowell friends, Mrs. De La Croix gives this brief but
suggestive glimpse of the early home life of the Dole family :
"On Friday night, meetings were often held in our parlor that
sixty yards of carpeting covered. Often on zero nights — no
heat in the halls — we children brought from the chambers
every chair in the house and took them back again afterwards.
It never entered our heads to object, but the last trip was
jubilant."
Mrs. De La Croix then speaks of the social life of the
young people, and adds: "As we were the deacon's daughters,
we were not allowed to go to the Hallowell House dances, but
sometimes we got off to Augusta." On one of the latter
occasions Aunt Harriet Page, who lived "over the way,"
remarked, with some asperity, to one of the neighbors: "What
do you suppose Mrs. Dole thinks when she sees those muslin
dresses hanging on the clothes-horse in the winter.?"
Notwithstanding her advanced age, the writer of this letter
evidently retains much of her youthful spirit, for an Oxford
paper states that "the most interesting old person in the
county is Madame De La Croix, mother of Mr. Louis De La
Croix;" and describes this aged daughter of Deacon Dole as
"a woman of unusual mental force and vigor, an interesting
and instructive talker, and altogether a most charming person-
ality." ^
Deacon Ebenezer Dole died June 14/ 1847. After his
death, his family removed to Newburyport.
Daniel N. Dole, brother of Deacon Ebenezer Dole, married
Nancy Gove of Edgecomb. He was a goldsmith, and manu-
factured gold beads and silver spoons in his quaint little shop
in Hallowell. He was very exact in his movements, and
1 66 Old Hallow ell on the Kennebec
punctual in his hours of business ; and people were accustomed
to set their clocks and watches by the time at which he passed
certain points upon the street. He was succeeded in his busi-
ness by his son Eben G. Dole, who became the well-known
jeweler in Hallo well.
The children of Eben G. Dole and his wife Margaret were:
Mary C., Ellen B., Annie D., Daniel L., Samuel M., and
Henry L. Dole. Mrs. Miranda Dole, the second wife of Eben
G. Dole, and Miss Mary C. Dole were women of sincere piety,
practical benevolence, and life-long devotion to the work of
the church, and the patriotic and charitable associations of the
town. The only member of this family now living is Mr.
Henry L. Dole of Haverhill, Massachusetts, who retains the
Dole residence for a summer home in Hallowell.
Among the residents of Hallowell who were co-laborers in
the antislavery, temperance, and other philanthropic causes,
were Rev. Daniel Dole, Rev. Elias Bond, Rev. George Shepard,
pastor of the Old South Church, Richard D. Rice, Samuel K.
Gilman, Simon Page, James Gow, Rodney G. Lincoln, William
Stickney, Ephraim Mayo, Samuel W. Huntington, Joseph
Nason, Joseph Lovejoy, John Yeaton, Benjamin Wales,
Charles Dummer, Dr. Nourse, Dr. Richardson, and many others
whose names are well remembered.
The Rev. Daniel Dole was well known as an early
missionary to the Hawaiian Islands, and as the father of
Sanford B. Dole, president of Hawaii. Another noble son
of Hallowell who devoted his long life to the work of evangel-
izing and civilizing the natives of the Hawaiian Islands was the
Rev. Elias Bond. In 1840, Dr. Bond left Hallowell and, with
his gifted and devoted wife, went to Kohala, where they both
spent their lives in toil and self-sacrifice. Religion and educa-
tion were the watchwords of "Father Bond,^' and his aspirations
were grandly realized in the field to which he devoted his
labors.
James Gow was a Scotch tailor who came to Hallowell
in 1793. He married, August 23, 1793, Lucy, daughter of
Eliphalet Gilman, and built for his family residence, the house
Gow
afterwards occupied by his son-in-law, Rodney G. Lincoln, and
later by Orlando Currier. Throughout his life, he was a
worthy and pious deacon in the Old South Church, where his
place often seems to have been second only to that of the
minister. He has been described as "a Scotch gentleman,
with a heart overflowing with loving kindness." Every one
loved him. It was often said that *'he was too good to die;
that he would be translated." Deacon Gow was a devoted
adherent to the antislavery cause, and his house was always
open to the colored man. It is said that the first fugitive
slave that passed through Hallowell was cared for by Deacon
Gow, and that the Rev. H. H. Garnet, the colored preacher
of Troy, New York, was cordially entertained by Deacon and
Mrs. Gow, much to the disapproval of their friends.
Closely allied with the leading men of Hallowell in all
philanthropic movements were the two brothers, Paul and
William Stickney, sons of Thomas Stickney of Rowley, Massa-
chusetts. William Stickney, born April 17, 1799, married
Judith, daughter of Nathan Moody. Their children were:
William, David, Joseph, and Caroline Elizabeth, who married,
January 14, 1869, Mr. George H. Hoyt of Bradford, Massa-
chusetts. Of William Stickney it has been said that **he was
far-sighted, enterprising, industrious in business; yet his char-
acter as a business man seemed to be swallowed up in that of
the practical Christian. All things were to him secondary to
the cause of true piety, which he sought to advance no more
by precept than by example and charity. He seemed to dignify
human nature by his beautiful life, the end of which is —
peace."
Captain Ephraim Mayo was born at Harwich, Massachu-
setts, October 27, 1789. He was the son of Ebenezer Mayo
ship-builder, who settled in Hallowell in 1 793, and a lineal
descendant of the Rev. John Mayo, first 'pastor of the old
North Church in Boston. The Mayos had also in their veins
a liberal strain of Mayflower blood; and through their maternal
lines they traced descent from Governor Thomas Prence, Elder
William Brewster, and other worthies of the Plymouth Colony.
Ebenezer Mayo and his father, Thomas, served in the war of
i68
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
the Revolution, and were prisoners on the infamous ship Jersey
in New York harbor. Captain Ephraim Mayo was a man of
the strict puritanic type. Rigid in his principles, inflexible in
methods, conscientious to the extreme, he was nevertheless,
kindly, generous, and just to all men, and possessed in his
heart a great tenderness for little children. He was a member
of no sect because he could subscribe to no creed ; yet he was
a constant attendant and a liberal supporter of the services of
the church. As early as 1814, his name is found among the
incorporators of the Union Religious Society of Hallowell.
He was a staunch abolitionist in the days when the leaders
of the antislavery party were branded with opprobrium and
threatened with social ostracism. He did not hesitate to
receive the fugitive slave into his own house; and I well
remember the thrilling story of the *'big black man" who was
once hidden all night in the attic while the family shook in
terror lest the officers of the law should appear and wreak
vengeance on their heads. But the "chattel" was passed
safely on to the next underground station, and at last in safety
reached the desired haven.
In the war of 1812, Ephraim Mayo served as corporal in
the Hallowell Light Infantry Company, which was organized
under Captain Benjamin Dearborn, November 20, 181 1. A
few years afterwards, Ephraim Mayo was appointed captain of
this company, and, in accordance with the local custom, retained
his title through life. On February 19, 181 5, Captain Ephraim
Mayo married Sally Laughton, daughter of Thomas and Molly
Adams Laughton who settled in Hallowell in 1804. Ephraim
Mayo died September 24, 1857. Mrs. Sally Laughton Mayo
lived to the age of eighty-six. She possessed rare charms of
mind and character, and also the beautiful brown eyes, which
she inherited, according to family tradition, from the Lynn
Laugh tons of England, and bequeathed to her own daughters.
Samuel W. Huntington came to Hallowell about 1840.
In that year five votes were cast in Hallowell for James Birney,
the abolitionist candidate for the presidency of the United
States. It is recorded that the five gentlemen who voted this
ticket were Samuel W. Huntington, Ebenezer Dole, Joseph C.
H
W
w
O
0
Huntington
Lovejoy, Stevens Smith, and Eli Thurston. Samuel W.
Huntington was at that time a comparatively new resident in
Hallowell, but he soon identified himself with the political and
commercial interests of the town, and was recognized as an
able business man, and a large-hearted, generous, public-spirited
citizen. For more than twenty-five years, he was one of the
prominent merchants and manufacturers of Hallowell, and an
active supporter of all local reforms.
In the early sixties, Mr. Huntington removed his business
to Augusta, but retained his residence in Hallowell. In 1874,
he built the house on Central Street which he occupied until
his death; but the early home of the Huntington family was
in the quaint old house that still stands on Middle Street. It
was, in those days, a long, low-roofed cottage with odd-shaped
rooms, and five queer stairways leading, in unexpected places,
to its dormer-windowed chambers and the dark, mysterious
store-rooms where, on semi-annual occasions, the old-fashioned
gowns, the pink-satin-lined bonnets, the gorgeous cashmere
shawls, the silk-embroidered slippers, and the curious little fan-
parasols were brought forth for an airing, to the great delight
of the daughters of the household. The long piazza, where the
children played "Old Mother Tipsey-toes," and danced "up
and down the center," still remains; but the old fruit gardens,
the long walk bordered with the dear old-fashioned flowers, the
trellised grape arbor, and the summer-house where they might
sit and read their story-books on Sunday, if they would be
"very still, indeed," have entirely disappeared.
Samuel W. Huntington belonged to a family that has
borne an honorable name in the annals of the country and that
has not been without distinguished representatives both in the
church and state. He was born in Litchfield, Maine, May
17, 1 816, the son of William and Mary Huntington, and a
descendant of Simon and Margaret Barer Huntington who
emigrated to this country in 1633. He married, November 9,
1842, Sally, daughter of Captain Ephraim Mayo. Their chil-
dren were Samuel Lancaster and Emma Caroline. Samuel
Lancaster Huntington married, November 7, 1877, Nelhe A.
Yeaton, daughter of John Yeaton, of Chelsea, Maine. They
170
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
have one daughter, Mary Wentworth Huntington. Emma
Carohne Huntington married May 23, 1870, Charles H. Nason
of Augusta. Mrs. Sally Mayo Huntington died October 3,
1849. On June 30, 1850, Samuel W. Huntington married
Caroline Mayo, daughter of Captain Ephraim Mayo. Their
children were Julius Francis, Alice Mayo, and Charles Franklin.
Julius Francis Huntington married, May 20, 1885, Helen F.
Thomas, a woman of rarely beautiful character, who died, Feb-
ruary 19, 1907, leaving one son, Richard Thomas Huntington.
The Nason families of Hallowell were descended from
Richard Nason, who, in 1639, had a grant of two hundred acres
of land on the Newichawannock river in that part of old
Kittery which is now South Berwick. According to family
tradition, Richard Nason came from Stratford-on-Avon, where
the name of Nason is found on the parish records as early as
1577. Joseph Frost Nason, born in Sanford, Maine, June 29,
1 81 3, came to Hallowell about 1840. He was sixth in descent
from Richard Nason of Kittery, and counted among his ances-
tors. Frosts, Emerys, Sewalls, Dummers, and leading families
of the Plymouth colony. He married, first, July 23, 1843,
Mary Thompson Welch, who died August 3, 1852; and, second,
Mrs. Susan B. Sherman of Nantucket. The children of
Joseph Frost and Mary Welch Nason were: Charles H., who
became one of the prominent business men of Augusta; Edwin
Francis, a graduate of Bates College, and, in his early years,
a successful teacher and literary critic; and Aroline who died
in infancy. Charles H. Nason married. May 23, 1870, Emma
Caroline Huntington. They have one son, Arthur Huntington
Nason, instructor in English in New Y ork University.
Joseph Frost Nason was engaged for many years in the
boot and shoe business in Hallowell. He was a gentleman of
the old school type, of cultivated mind, of courteous bearing,
and of integrity of character. He was a zealous advocate of
the abolition of slavery and of the temperance reform, and a
man whose strong religious principles were exemplified by most
liberal charities and consistent Christian living. He died
October 27, 1877.
Bartholomew Nason, also a descendant of Richard Nason
Miss Mary Thompson Wei.ch
(Mrs. Joseph F. Nason)
Temperance Movement
171
of Kittery, removed from Augusta to Hallowell in 1837, where
he became one of the leading merchants. He was the father
of Deacon Edward Nason, whose daughter, Miss Margaret
Nason, now resides in Augusta; of Wilham Nason, who mar-
ried Mary A. Wingate; and of Frederick B. Nason, who married
Annie Dwight; and the grandfather of Deha E. Collins, who
married Louis Ruttkay, nephew of Kossuth.
While the cause of antislavery was thus exciting great
interest in Hallowell, another philanthropic reform was inaugu-
rated which appealed very closely to the hearts of the people.
This was the temperance movement. Ever since the founda-
tion of the town, West India rum had been classed with
groceries and provisions, and had been as freely sold by the
most respectable merchants. The time came, however, when
the people were aroused to a realization of the terrible effects
of intemperance; and leading citizens made strenuous efforts
to bring about a reform. They held mass meetings; they
preached sermons; they gave lectures; they formed societies.
Perpetual and total abstinence was the watchword; and the
method, moral suasion. One of the most famous leaders in
this remarkable movement was the Rev. Joseph C. Lovejoy,
the agent of the Maine Temperance Union. Under his
direction immense mass meetings were held, at which speeches
were made by Rev. John A. Vaughan, Rev. Mr. Miles, Rev.
Thomas Adams, Dr. Amos Nourse, S. W. Robinson, Charles
Dummer, Esq., and Judge Peleg Sprague. Great interest was
aroused; the churches united and formed a society; and the
people of Hallowell entered resolutely upon the work. Mr.
Lovejoy spoke to a crowded audience, in the town hall, with
great power, eloquence, and pathos ; and his /appeal resulted in
the accession of a large number of members to the society.
Mr. Lovejoy also organized a boy's society which adopted a
pledge of total abstinence.
The immediate and practical results of all these efforts
may be best understood from a few typical instances. The
first occurs — where we should least expect to find it — in the
172 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
orders of one of the military companies. It had always been
the custom for the captain of the company, at the close of the
drill, to march the men to his own door and offer them a
parting glass. I remember the tall decanters and long rows
of wine glasses that, in the days of my childhood, were always
kept on the upper shelves of my grandmother's china closets,
and of hearing how my grandfather used always to treat the
men" when he was captain of the Light Infantry. In after
days he became the most rigid of total abstainers. But it was
another captain of the same company who was the moral hero
of whom I write. This was Captain S. A. Kingsbury who,
during temperance agitation, in 1834, addressed his company
saying that the common practice of serving wines and other
liquors at company drills was repugnant to his views and
feelings, and expressing his wish that the company would
agree to have the custom discontinued. A motion was made
that thereafter "refreshments" be dispensed with, and it was
unanimously carried.
Another indirect but very forcible expression of the state
of public sentiment may be found in the announcement, in
1 841, of the famous old steamboat, the J. W. Richmond. '*The
hands of the Richmond^'' says this advertisement, "drink no
strong drinks;" and adds, "It would be well if the passengers
followed their example."
On June 5, 1841, the Hallowell Weekly Gazette announces:
"We have the pleasure of informing our readers that the
Hallowell House is now a temperance house; and bespeak a
liberal share of the patronage of the public for its gentlemanly
landlord, Mr. Hodges."
It was on the following Fourth of July that Hallowell had
its memorable temperance celebration with a dinner at Mr.
Hodges' famous hostelry. This notable day was ushered in
with the usual noisy demonstrations of joy. At ten o'clock the
Washington Temperance Society met at the Town Hall, and
formed in procession with other societies, the soldiers of the
Revolution, the clergy, and distinguished guests, and then
marched to the Old South Church escorted by Captain A.
Lord's corps of Volunteers, and the Hallowell Independent
Lovejoy
173
Lancers. The latter were a company of young lads in brilliant
uniforms, who attracted much attention by fine appearance,
good order, and exact marching. The band followed; and the
whole procession was under the direction of Major Haines.
The services at the church consisted of prayer by Rev.
Mr. Cole, reading of the Declaration of Independence by
Colonel D. P. Livermore, address by Dr. Nourse, and an ode,
"I've thrown the bowl aside," sung by Mr. E. Rowell. Mr.
Joseph C. Lovejoy was then called upon to make '^remarks,"
and gave one of the most eloquent addresses ever heard from
his gifted lips.
At the close of these exercises the procession marched to
the Hallowell House, where one hundred and thirty guests sat
down to one of Landlord Hodges' best dinners. Toasts were
then drank, cold water being the only beverage, and it was
agreed that ''never was a Fourth of July passed in Hallowell in
better spirits and good feeling."
Among those who responded to toasts were: J. Burnham,
Henry Reed, E. Rowell, T. W. Newman, Leonard Whittier,
Alonzo Palmer, H. K. Baker, Colonel Livermore, Colonel
Masters, Rev. J. Cole, R. G. Lincoln, Justin E. Smith, and
Rev. J. C. Lovejoy. The Independent Lancers had their
share of the honors. They were apostrophized as "Invincible,"
with the added sentiment : "May their first battle be pitched
upon King Alcohol, the common enemy."
These illustrations show very plainly the trend of public
sentiment and the advance made by the temperance cause.
The Washington Temperance Society continued its labors
with great success, not only in Hallowell but throughout the
state ; and the movement resulted in the prohibition law passed
by the Maine Legislature, in 1852.
In 1829, Mr. Lovejoy was preceptor ^of the Hallowell
Academy. He afterwards entered the ministry and became
pastor of the Congregational Church at Cambridgeport. He
was an earnest supporter of the temperance cause and, like his
famous brothers Elijah and Owen Lovejoy, he was very active
and zealous in the antislavery movement
A very interesting family tradition, describing an incident
174
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
which is said to have taken place during the pastorate of Mr.
Lovejoy at Cambridgeport, is worthy of record as characteristic
of the temper of the times. In Mr. Lovejoy's church there was
a colored man of fine appearance who was said to have had a
white mother and who showed but slight traces of his colored
parentage. He was a large, dignified man and a celebrated
caterer. The wife of this colored man was a white woman ; and
as it was the rule in Mr. Lovejoy's church that the colored
members should sit by themselves in the gallery, Mr. Lovejoy
made an exception in this case and permitted the husband to
sit with the white people, saying that no husband and wife
should be separated in his church.
This decision caused great excitement and intense opposi-
tion in the church and town; the people were beside themselves
with rage; and the affair resulted in the resignation of Mr.
Lovejoy and his leaving the ministry. Subsequently Mr. Love-
joy was engaged in lecturing and as foreign correspondent in
the Patent Office at Washington. By his association with men
in sympathy with slavery, Mr. Lovejoy's views were greatly
modified, and he withdrew from the antislavery movement,
much to the sorrow of his brother Owen and of his northern
friends.
The Rev. Joseph C. Lovejoy was the son of David
Lovejoy, and a descendant of John Lovejoy, one of the founders
of Andover. He was born July 26, 1805, married October 6,
1830, Sarah Moody, only daughter of Samuel and Sarah Moody
of Hallowell. They had eight children, the youngest of whom,
Anna Louise Lovejoy, married, April 6, 1868, William Henry
Raymond of Boston. The children of this marriage are:
Marion Louise, who married Joseph Warren Merrill of Brook-
line; Robert Lovejoy Raymond, who married Mary Minturn
Higbee of New Rochelle, New York; William Lee Raymond,
who married Phoebe Teresa Candage of Brookline; and Edith,
who married Percy Vickery Hill of Augusta, Maine.
Stevens Smith whose name appears conspicuously in con-
nection with the emancipationists of the period, came to
Hallowell 1803. He was the son of Nathaniel Smith of
Epping, New Hampshire. He married Nancy, daughter of
Lincoln
175
George and Zipperah Robinson of Attleboro. One of his
daughters, Nancy Robinson, married Richard D. Rice, editor
of the Liberty Staftdard, and afterwards removed to Augusta.
The Standard was subsequently conducted by the Rev. Austin
Willey, the famous antislavery leader, who resided for some
years in Hallowell, and while there gave a great impetus to
the cause.
Franklin A. Day came to Hallowell about 1831, and
engaged in business with Laban Lincoln. Mr. Day became
a successful merchant and lumber dealer, and also officiated
as town treasurer and collector. He was a fine singer, and
is remembered as the leader of the Universalist choir, which
was noted for its excellent music. He married Hannah Squire
and had four children: Frank, Joe, Preston, and Lizzie. Mr.
Joe B. O. Day is now living in Castana, Iowa. His letters to
his Hallowell friends are filled with interesting reminiscences
of his native town.
Laban Lincoln was eminently worthy of the name of a
''good citizen." He gave his name to that part of Hallowell
known as Lincolnville where he erected quite a large number
of houses. Like his business partner, Mr. Day, he gloried in
being ''a despised abolitionist" and was once mobbed on the
street for his antislavery utterances. It has been truly said
of him that ''he was the friend of every one, and fully exem-
plified his belief in the brotherhood of man." Rodney G.
Lincoln, the son of Laban Lincoln, married Lucy, daughter
of Deacon Gow. Mr. Lincoln's name appears prominently in
connection with all movements for the public weal, until the
time of his removal from Hallowell to Minnesota. His oldest
daughter, Mrs. Mary Pollock, has written some interesting
sketches of her native town under the pen-name of Clara
Graham. A younger daughter. Miss Anna TJiurston Lincoln,
has been, during the last thirty years, the presiding genius of
the women's hall at Carlton College, Minnesota, and a frequent
and ever welcome guest at Hallowell.
The name of Page has frequent and always honorable
mention in the annals of Hallowell. David Page, born August
12, 1782, was the son of Aaron, and grandson of John Page,
176
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
and belonged to one of the noteworthy old families of Kensing-
ton, New Hampshire. He married, October i6, 1814, Mary,
daughter of Benjamin a^d Zilpha Guild, of Hallowell. Their
children were: Mary, Benjamin Guild, Horatio, Caroline A.,
Edward, Sarah Elizabeth, David, Franklin, and Augustus.
The sons are no longer living. Mary married John Matthews
and died in 1903. She was a woman much beloved by many
friends. She possessed a remarkable memory, and, having
spent her whole life in her native town, her mind was stored
with interesting and valuable reminiscences of the old people
and the olden times in Hallowell. Caroline A. Page married
John Freeman. She is now a delightfully young old lady of
eighty-five, who resides with her daughter, Mrs. Amos Smith
of Chicago, but who still frequently visits her sister. Miss
Sarah Elizabeth Page, at the family homestead in Hallowell.
The founders of the Freeman families of Hallowell were
Edward, Samuel, and Ebenezer, descendants of Edmund Free-
man of Sandwich, Massachusetts. They settled on the east
side of the river and gave their name to Freeman's hill. Prom-
inent among their neighbors were the Davis brothers,
Benjamin, Nathan, and Daniel, from the vicinity of Exeter,
New Hampshire, and Seth Littlefield, a descendant of Edmund
Littlefield of Wells, Maine. The Littlefields, like the members
of the Davis family, were farmers and sea-faring men of
honorable repute. Jeremiah Littlefield, son of Seth, left four
children. One daughter, Aureha, married John L. French of
Hallowell. The French family is now represented by Mr.
Charles French of Monterey, California, Mrs. Julia Francis of
Washington, Mrs. Susan F. Wallace of Nashua, and by Miss
Emma O. French and Mr. Stephen H. French, of Hallowell,
who reside upon the estate formerly owned by Charles
Vaughan, Esq. Phineas Yeaton, with his wife, Phebe Went-
worth, and two children, Dorcas and John, came from Berwick
in 1798 and engaged in the lumber business on the east side of
the river. These families were all of good New England stock
and left descendants worthy of their names.
Barnstable County, Massachusetts, sent not a few of
its staunch sons to Hallowell. Among them was Elisha
White
177
Nye, son of Stephen Nye, both of whom served in the
Continental army and in the war of the Revolution. Elisha
Nye was the father of the well-remembered Kennebec sea-
captain, Ansel Nye. William Nye, son of Ansel, married
Susan L. Siders of Boston. Their children were Mary, William,
George Albert, Charles E., J. Edwin, Emma L., and Ellen M.
Three of these sons, William, George Albert, and J. Edwin,
were officers in the war of the Rebellion. Ellen M. married
F. Herbert Parlin and now resides in Hallowell. General
George Nye of Natick, also a descendant of Elisha Nye,
served in the war of the Rebellion and had a most honorable
record.
Prominent among the men of this period were Ambrose
Merrill and James Atkins, wealthy merchants and ship-build-
ers. Ellen Merrill, the daughter of Ambrose Merrill, married
James Atkins and resided in the Bond-Glazier mansion which is
now occupied by her daughter, Mrs. M. M. Johnson. Brooks
and Hathaway were hardware merchants and their families
took an important part in the literary and social life of the
town. Calvin Spaulding, the veteran bookseller, had a long
and honorable business career in Hallowell. The Spaulding
book store, founded in 1820, is still one of the characteristic
landmarks of the town. Jesse Aiken, one of the enterprising
and successful merchants of Hallowell married Mary A. Fuller,
and resided in the old Squire Perley house. His oldest
daughter, Eliza J. Aiken Masters, died in Syracuse in 1889;
Edward Fuller Aiken was one of the "forty-niners," and died
in California; the youngest daughter, Augusta, married William
J. Kilburn and now resides in New Bedford. She still retains
a warm affection for her native town and for the old Hallowell
Academy in which she was educated.
Another family, closely associated with this Second Street
neighborhood, was that of General Greenlief ' White, a promi-
nent business man of Hallowell and afterwards of Augusta.
General White married Julia Cascolene Martin, daughter of
Alfred and Lydia Martin, and granddaughter of Isaac Clark.
Mrs. White was a woman of remarkable character who
retained her keenness of intellect, unimpaired memory, and
178
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
great charm of manner until her last days. She long outlived
her husband and spent her last days in Hallowell where she
died in 1887, at the age of eighty-two years. Of the five
children of this marriage, two died in childhood; the oldest
son, Greenlief White, born July 23, 1832, was drowned in the
Kennebec. The oldest daughter, Julia M. White, born Sep-
tember 21, 1828, is said to have been **a reigning belle and
beauty" in her girlhood; and although an invalid during her
later years, she never lost the fascinating charm of her youthful
days. Annie L. White, the second daughter of General and
Mrs. White, was born May 8, 1834, and married, in 1854, Mr.
Joseph Berry of Bath. Her home was for many years in
Hallowell where she became endeared to a large circle of
friends through her lovable character, her irresistible charm
of manner, her intellectual gifts, rare conversational powers,
her unselfish life, and her loyalty to her friends. The two
children of Joseph and Annie L. Berry were Cascolene
Hortense, who married Mr. Edward A. Thomas of Hallowell,
and Edward Williams Berry, who married Katharine Maud
Beeman of Hallowell. The last years of the life of Mrs. Annie
Berry were spent with her son and daughter in Spokane,
Washington. She died November i, 1908, greatly beloved and
lamented.
Artemas Leonard was a merchant and bank president. In
his day the practice of banking was less formal and complicated
than at the present time; and an interesting story of Mr.
Leonard's methods is told by Mr. Benjamin Page, an old
resident of Hallowell. "Before the Kennebec and Portland
Railroad was built," writes Mr. Page, "transportation to Boston
was, in summer, by vessels and later by steamers; in winter by
stage which required three days for the journey. On this
particular trip, I stood one afternoon awaiting the arrival of the
stage from Augusta. It was an event — it came. A bank was
located near by, and just as the stage was leaving, Mr. Artemas
Leonard, its president, came briskly out, lifted the blanket
side, which was hiding from view all the passengers, and
said, — * Anyone here going to Boston?' Someone must have
said, *yes, ' possibly someone he knew from Augusta, for he
Joy
179
continued, *I have a package here of ten thousand dollars,
I would like to have taken to the Suffolk Bank.' It was taken
on and the stage departed."
Artemas Leonard became a man of wealth and his resi-
dence, a large brick house on Middle Street, was one of the
most attractive in the town. It is remembered by a younger
generation as the home of his daughter, Mrs. Caroline Hill.
An old bowling alley which stood on the Leonard grounds had
a great fascination for the boys and girls who were often
permitted to play there by the courtesy of Mrs. Hill.
Nathaniel Brown was one of the most energetic and enter-
prising of the earlier business men. He has the distinction, in
an old record, of being **the baker who makes good bread." He
married Mary L. Parsons of Ipswich. Their daughter, Lucia
Parsons Brown, is remembered as a teacher of water-color
painting. She lived to a good old age in Hallowell, where she
was highly esteemed for her womanly virtues. Nathaniel
Brown built the interesting old house on Winthrop Street
afterwards owned by Hiram Fuller. This house has a charm-
ing stairway turning to right and left from the landing near the
top; and in the window of the upper hall is a pane of glass with
this quaint inscription:
Hear I stand boath day and night to keep
out could and let in light.
Glazed by Richard Calvert.
Dec. 5, 1812.
Hiram Fuller married Sarah, daughter of Simeon C.
Whittier. They had four children, Martha, George, Charles,
and Brenda, now Mrs. Freese of Hallowell. Mrs. Fuller was a
bright, cheery, hospitable woman who always made the young
people especially welcome in her home. She retained her
youthful feelings, her interest in current events, and her devo-
tion to the service of the Episcopal church until her last day.
She died January i, 1893.
Hiram Joy was in the leather and harness business. He
married Caroline Hayden and lived in the Nye house on
Second Street. Here their daughter Caroline was born in
i8o Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
1833. About 1835, Mr. Joy removed to Detroit. He after-
wards visited Hallowell bringing with him his beautiful young
daughter who was warmly welcomed in the place of her birth.
Caroline Joy married J. Stirling Morton, at one time Secretary
and Acting-Governor of Nebraska. She was a woman of
remarkable qualities of mind and character^; one who took in
abundantly of the many good gifts of earth and heaven, and
gave out a hundred fold. She is proudly claimed by the
mother town as one her most lovable and accomplished
daughters. Mrs. Morton died June 29, 1881. Four sons,
Joy, Paul, Mark, and Charles, live to honor their mother's
memory.
Moses and Daniel Lakeman were the sons of Thomas
and Elizabeth Lord Lakeman, and were among the most highly
respected citizens of the town. Moses Lakeman was a man of
prominence, and one of the early mayors of Hallowell. During
the Civil War, he enlisted in the army and was Colonel of the
famous Third Maine regiment. On his return to Hallowell he
was presented, by the town with a pair of silver spurs in
recognition of his services to his country. Daniel Lakeman,
who might have contested, with Deacon Gow, the palm for
genuine and unaffected goodness, lived a long and useful
life in Hallowell. He married, first, Eliza Shepherd. One
daughter of this marriage was Mrs. Mary L. Clark. The third
wife of Daniel Lakeman was Mary Blood of Pepperell. The
children of this marriage were Martha A., now Mrs. Reuben
Brooks, of Gloucester, and Annie M., who died January 16,
1908. Miss Annie M. Lakeman began her successful career
as a teacher in the public schools of Hallowell. She was
afterward, for nineteen years, the principal of the Lane School,
at Gloucester, Mass. She was an ideal teacher with the power
of inspiring her pupils with her own mental and moral aspira-
tions. She did a great work, with immeasurable benefit to the
school, the home, and the general public.
Thomas and James Leigh were sons of Joseph Leigh who
came from England to Hallowell about 1800. They both had
long and honorable careers as merchants. Mr. James Leigh
married Martha Athern, of Bath, and had two daughters,
Yeaton
i8i
Grace Athern, and Alice Eliza who married Mr. Charles E.
Dinsmore. The children of Thomas Leigh were Thomas
Leigh, Jr., of Augusta; Helen Paine, who married H. Nelson
Webber; and Annie Elizabeth, now Mrs. Ben Tenney of Hal-
lowell.
Samuel Tenney was by trade a shoemaker. He occupied
a shop, at the "Sign of the Boot," on the corner of Winthrop
and Water Streets. But Mr. Tenney was also an apothecary,
and spent all his leisure time in the study of the science of
chemistry. He became so thoroughly and practically versed in
this subject that he manufactured his own chemical apparatus,
and gave illustrated lectures which proved most acceptable and
interesting to the public. His lecture room was on the upper
floor of the Old South School House; and here, in 1817, he ex-
hibited an electric light on the same principle as the electric
light of the present day. Mr. Tenney was also a noted singer
and teacher of music in Hallowell and was chorister of the Old
South Church for many years.
Mr. and Mrs, Tenney had two children, Alonzo and Abby.
Captain Alonzo Tenney married Sadie White. Their sons,
Ben, Fred, and George, now reside in Hallowell. The
following interesting story is told of Alonzo Tenney who
seems to have inherited his father's practical and scientific
abihty : "Alonzo when a young man went to sea for his health
and was master of the vessel Nile which was shipwrecked in a
violent gale on a voyage to Pensacola. For twelve days the
captain and his crew were at the mercy of the wind and wave
and were kept alive only by the ingenuity of Captain Tenney.
By the aid of a lens he procured fire; and by his knowledge
of chemistry, with simply a barrel, a tea-kettle, and gun-barrel
he made a rude distillery changing the salt water to fresh. He
also rigged a mast so that the vessel was paking some time
when finally picked up. Capt9.in Tenney received high com-
mendation for his courage and prudence from the owners of the
vessel."
John Yeaton, the son of Phineas Yeaton, married Abigail
Rollins, and resided on the east side of the river. He was a
man marked for his uprightness and force of character, and
1 82 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
was active in the antislavery movements and other moral re-
forms of his time. He died at an honored old age, leaving one
son, who worthily bore his father's name, and three daughters,
Mrs. Alden Flye of Damariscotta, Mrs. George W. Simonds of
Boston, and Mrs. Samuel L. Huntington of Augusta.
Other familiar names appear in the lists of the business
men of this period. There was Benjamin Davenport, the
hatter; Ichabod Nutter who advertised "black, white, and
green French crepe, ostrich feathers and rich thread laces;"
Jonas Child, A. Lord, and John Clark, tailors; Jerome Day,
H. Tobey, John Lowell, B. F. Warner, merchants; James Sher-
burne, the blind storekeeper; Elbridge Rollins, whose stand
was the headquarters of the democratic party-leaders during
the exciting political campaigns; and Mark Means, the pros-
perous baker, who built a fine brick house on Chestnut Street,
now the residence of Miss Annie S. Banks. Mr. George
Fuller established an iron foundry and machine shops in which
his sons have carried on an extensive business, Isaiah
McClinch also built an iron foundry, and was succeeded by his
son, George B. McClinch. D. L. Gardiner was a dealer in
men's furnishing goods. His sons, George, Charles, Harry,
Frederic, and one daughter, Inez, were students at the Hal-
lowell Academy, and always retained their loyalty for their
native town. The old Gardiner-Marston house, at the head
of Union Street, has a chamber called the "Tom Reed room,"
so named because it was frequently occupied by Charles
Gardiner's college friend who afterwards became the famous
Speaker of the National House of Representatives. Mark
Johnson, dealer in groceries and provisions, occupied the
corner store in the brick block erected by Squire Perley. He
married Sarah Simmons, daughter of Captain Daniel Sim-
mons, and granddaughter of Ebenezer Mayo. They had three
sons, Llewellyn, Gorham, and Hannibal ; and three daughters,
Clara, Florence, and Fanny. Lieutenant Hannibal A. Johnson
was an officer of the famous Third Maine RegimiCnt during the
Civil War, and the author of an interesting and valuable
volume of personal reminiscences, entitled The Sword Of
Honor. Clara married Captain Holman Anderson; Florence
Beeman
183
married Mr. Jewell of Hallowell; Fanny married Alexander
Doyle, the well-known sculptor of New York.
Major William S. Haines was cabinet maker and under-
taker. His father, Jonathan Haines, was the owner of the
granite quarry afterwards developed and made famous by the
proprietors of the Hallowell Granite Works. Major Haines
was, for twenty-five years, the superintendent of burials in
Hallowell and came into close and sympathetic touch with the
people. He kept a record of all the deaths that occurred dur-
ing this period; and his mind was a depository of local history
and family genealogies. A. B. and P. Morton are also well
remembered among the business men of Hallowell in 1840.
They afterwards removed to Baltimore where they became
wealthy merchants. Mr. Franklin J. Morton, Mrs. H. P.
Dyer, and Miss Priscilla B. Morton, the son and daughters of
Mr. A. B. Morton, have been frequent guests in Hallowell, and
liberal donors to the Old South Church.
Not least among all these was John Beeman who kept the
corner store, at the **Sign of the Indian.*' It is not quite
clear to my mind, at the present time, just what kind of a stock
of goods John Beeman had for sale. I remember it as a sort of
phantasmagoria of dolls, rocking-horses, peppermint candy,
fireworks, jews harps, hoops and hoop-sticks, coral necklaces,
and carnelian rings — magnificent beyond compare! And yet
there must have been other staple articles of merchandise
purchased by the older patrons of the store, who apparently
did not always pay their bills as promptly as did the children,
for, in the columns of the local paper, appears this notice :
"All persons having demands against the subscriber will please call
and get their money. Those indebted to the subscriber are requested
to call and settle, or they will find the 'items' in the hands of Wm. B.
Glazier, Esq., who has no bowels of compassion." ,
John Beeman, born January 24, 1810, was the son of John
Beeman of Hallowell and grandson of John Beeman of Hart-
ford, Connecticut. He married Sarah Carr, daughter of
George Carr. Their daughters, Mrs. Katharine Berry, and
Miss Edith Beeman, now reside in the ancestral Carr house on
184 Old Hallowell on the Ke7inebec
Second Street. John Beeman, senior, came to Hallowell in
1 78 1. He owned a large tract of land on Water and Central
Streets — where he cultivated an extensive garden famed for its
fruits and vegetables. Mr. Beeman, it is said, was "a great
reader;" and on winter evenings, he was always found on his
long settle, by the fireplace, poring by candlelight, over some
book on science or ancient history.
Another well-remembered business man was Benjamin
Wales, who, for many years, was the leading druggist on the
Kennebec. Mr. Wales was born at Braintree in 1782, and
came to Hallowell when good druggists were rare. He soon
built up an extensive and profitable business, and taught the
secrets of his trade to Mr. Simon Page of Hallowell, Mr. Eben
Fuller of Augusta, and other young men who afterwards
established themselves successfully in the same business. Mr.
Wales married Sally Carr, daughter of Mrs. Carr, who became
the second wife of Mr. William Morse. Mr. Wales built, in
1820, the spacious and elegant mansion, on the corner of
Middle and Chestnut streets. This house was subsequently
occupied by Henry W. Paine, Thomas Andrews, A. S.
Washburn, and Captain Charles H. Wells. Mr. Wales was a
member of the Old South Church, and a stanch democrat. He
was also evidently a consistent supporter of the temperance
movement, for when he pledged himself to this cause he
emptied his bottles of cherry brandy out of doors, while the
children gazed with awe upon the little blood-red streams that
trickled down his garden paths. Mr. and Mrs. Wales had one
son who died in early manhood, and two daughters. Miss
Sarah Wales, long remembered as a teacher in the Hallowell
Academy, and Charlotte, who married Dr. Frederick Allen of
Hallowell.
Dr. Frederick Allen was born in Chilmark, Martha's
Vineyard, and educated at Amherst College and the Harvard
Medical School. After a year's experience in hospital practice,
he came to Hallowell where he had a long and successful
professional career, terminated by his sudden death in 1858.
Mrs. Charlotte Wales Allen outlived her husband for forty
years. She was a most interesting and lovable woman and a
Smith
185
devoted and life-long member of St. Matthew's Parish in Hal-
lowell.
The names of Dr. and Mrs. Allen suggest those of other
interesting families who lived at the south end of Second
Street — the Andrews, the De Wolfe Smiths, the Hathaways,
the Flaggs, the Dummers, and other cultured and interesting
people. These families, together with Dr. and Mrs. Richard-
son, organized and maintained a literary club, at which original
essays and the books of the day were read and discussed. The
men were all interesting talkers and keenly alive to the ques-
tions of the time and the women were no less able to contri-
bute to the ''feast of reason and the flow of soul." This
old-time reading club held frequent meetings, and proved a
very enjoyable feature of neighborhood intercourse.
The Andrews family lived in a picturesque cottage with a
long piazza shaded by clematis vines. The house was sur-
rounded by pleasant gardens in which all the old-fashioned
fruits and flowers grew; and this home was one of the most
charming and hospitable in the town. Major Thomas M.
Andrews was a genial friend and neighbor, and Mrs. Andrews,
who was Miss Martha Augusta Curtis, daughter of Charles
Curtis of Boston, was greatly beloved by all who knew her.
They had one son, William Henry, and four daughters: Eliz-
abeth, who married Captain Llewellyn Cooper; Georgiana,
who died in girlhood greatly beloved and lamented; Martha,
who married Mr. Frank E. MuUiken, and who, with the young-
est sister, Miss Julia M. Andrews, now resides in Augusta.
Mrs. Martha Curtis Andrews died October 24, 1857. Major
Andrews married for his second wife, Louise, daughter of
Gideon Farrell, Esq.
Dr. De Wolfe Smith, a gentleman of wealth and culture,
married Judith Smith, daughter of Mr. Joseph Smith of
Hallowell. Mrs. Smith was a very hand/some and brilliant
woman who took a prominent and efficient part in all the social,
literary, and philanthropic movements of the day. Their only
daughter, Florence, is now Mrs. Pope Sampson of New York.
Their son, Robert, a graduate of Harvard, a brilliant scholar,
and a lawyer of unusual talent, died in early manhood.
1 86 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Franklin Hathaway married Caroline Gardiner and resided
in the octagon house which was familiarly known as the "Bird-
Cage." This unique and attractive cottage was built by
Captain Thwing, and first occupied by the family of Joseph
Barrett. The home of the Flaggs was just opposite the
Emmons house. Mr. John P. Flagg married Mary, daughter
of John Merrick, Esq. Mrs. Flagg was a woman of most esti-
mable character and distinguished for her private and public
benevolences. She was one of the founders of the Girls' Indus-
trial School, and a liberal endower of the Flagg-Dummer Hall.
Mr. Charles Dummer was a descendant of Jeremiah
Dummer who came to Hallowell with the early settlers.
Charles Dummer married, first. Miss Cobb of Portland, and,
second, Miss Almira Cleaves of Saco. Mr. and Mrs. Dummer
were both interested in all that pertained to the welfare of
Hallowell, and especially in its educational institutions. Mrs.
Dummer was, for many years, an invalid, but never lost her
interest in the vital affairs of life. She was the moving spirit
in her own home; and neither sickness nor pain prevented her
from joining the household in the pleasant social intercourse
which she constantly maintained. Her private and public
charities were numerous; and her gift of the Dummer estate,
on Winthrop Street, to the Girls' Industrial School remains a
permanent benefaction. The residence of the Dummers was the
handsome house built for the first Mrs. Dummer by her father.
Its location is one of the finest in the town; and its style of
architecture is suggestive of the elegance and repose of
Colonial life. This house is now the property of the artist,
Mr. Alger V. Currier.
An interesting story of Mrs. Dummer's girlhood is related
by Josiah Quincy in his Figures of the Past. The author
describes a journey which he made with Judge Story and
several other interesting passengers, in an old-fashioned stage
coach, in 1826. Among these passengers were Mr. and Mrs.
McCobb, from Maine who were escorting to Washington the
Misses Cleaves, two young ladies about to make their debut in
Washington. The journey from Boston to New York occu-
pied four days; and the passengers congratulated themselves
Mann
187
upon living in an age of rapid communication. They looked
upon their journey as a pleasure trip and each one contributed
of his best to the entertainment of his fellow-passengers.
"People who never talked anywhere else, " writes Quincy,
*'were driven to talk in those old stage coaches." ....
**Judge Story was one of the great talkers at a period when
conversation was considered a sort of second profession;" and
before the close of the first day's journey he was favoring his
fellow-travelers with brilliant stories, selections of poetry, a dis-
cussion of Scott's novels, of Miss Burney's Evelina, and of the
"conversations of Maria Edgeworth." We can therefore
imagine the keen delight with which the two young heiresses
from Maine listened to the conversation of this famous talker
with his fellow-passengers.
"The early hours of Sunday," continues Mr. Quincy, "I
spent in visiting the churches in attendance upon the Misses
Cleaves, who, being fresh from boarding-school were somewhat
romantic. May it chance that either of these fair, young crea-
tures are yet living.? May it happen that either of them
survives to read this narrative of our journey with the great
Judge.!* Were they also keeping journals.? It is just possible
that the publication of this paper may bring me some news of
their lives during the fifty-four years since we parted
company."
The publication of the above sketch resulted in a corre-
spondence between the author and Mrs. Almira Dummer.
"Little did I think," wrote this lady, "that, when taking the
journey alluded to, which was the first great event of my life,
* being fresh from boarding-school, and somewhat romantic,' I
should be reminded of it, after a period of fifty years, by one of
the party who enjoyed the privilege of the friendly intercourse,
the pleasure, and instruction derived from the unlimited fund
of conversation and knowledge possessed^ by Judge Story.
During the long course of yeats since that time each member
of that stage-coach party has been held in pleasant remem-
brance."
Among the well-remembered physicians of Hallowell were
Dr. Ariel Mann, Dr. Amos Nourse, and Dr. M. C. Richardson.
1 88 Old Hallowell o?i the Kennebec
Dr. Ariel Mann, was born in Wrentham, May 14, 1777,
came to Hallowell in 1802, and married September 3, 1810,
Phebe, daughter of William Morse. He was especially skilled
as a surgeon and stood at the head of his profession in this part
of the country. He entered into partnership with Dr. Amos
Nourse and maintained a successful practice for a number of
years. On being appointed Judge of Probate for Kennebec
County, he gave up the more strenuous duties of the medical
profession. Dr. Amos Nourse was also a physician of thorough
education and excellent practice, but, like Dr. Mann, he was
not of robust constitution. He therefore accepted the appoint-
ment of postmaster at Hallowell which he held from 1822
until the time of his removal to Bath, in 1841. He married,
first, Clarissa Augusta, daughter of Hon. John Chandler of
Monmouth; and, second. Miss Melville of Boston. He died
April 7, 1877.
Dr. M. C. Richardson was born in Springfield, New
Hampshire, September 24, 1814. He graduated from Dart-
mouth College in 1841, and from the medical department of the
University of New York in 1845. He settled in Hallowell
about 1848, and will long be remembered by our townspeople
as a man of scholarly attainments and a successful physician.
As a medical practitioner, Dr. Richardson was enthusiastically
and conscientiously devoted to his profession, and rendered his
service as freely to the poorer as well as to the richer class of
patients. Amidst the arduous demands of his practice, Dr.
Richardson also found time for the educational and phil-
anthropic work connected with the various new movements of
the time. For a number of years he gave his services gratui-
tously as librarian to the Hallowell Social Library, and
collected many books for its scantily filled shelves. He also
gave gratuitous instruction in music in the public schools, to
the great delight of the pupils and the gratitude of the
parents in those earlier days. With most commendable public
spirit, Dr. Richardson organized free lecture courses in Hal-
lowell, and gave lectures himself upon subjects that opened the
newly discovered fields of science to the people. His numerous
contributions to the press, upon scientific and literary topics,
Richardson
were alike interesting and valuable. During his long residence
in Hallowell, Dr. Richardson occupied a prominent place in
the social and religious life of the town. He was a devoted
church member and an honored deacon in the old South
Church. His character is very suggestive of that of "Dr.
Urquhart," in the story by his son, Professor Charles F.
Richardson, entitled The End of the Beginning. Dr. Richard-
son married first, Caroline Farnsworth of Bridgton. The only
child of this marriage was Harriet, now Mrs. S. S. Turner of
Chicago. Dr. Richardson married for his second wife, Mary
Wingate, daughter of Joseph Wingate of Hallowell. Their
son is Professor Charles F. Richardson of Dartmouth College.
Dr. Richardson died at New Marlborough, Massachusetts,
1877-
Professor Charles F. Richardson was born at Hallowell,
fitted for college at the Hallowell Academy, and graduated
from Dartmouth in 1871. He married Miss Elizabeth Miner
Thomas, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a granddaughter of
Charles Miner, of editorial and congressional fame, and a
prominent leader in the early antislavery movement. To him
the American public is indebted for that ever-popular phrase,
**to have an axe to grind." ^ Professor Richardson began his
literary life as an editor of The Independent^ and was sub-
sequently a member of the editorial staff of the Sunday School
Times, Philadelphia, and of Good Literature , New York. In
1882, he was appointed Winkley Professor of Saxon and English
at Dartmouth. He is the author of A Primer of American
Literature, 1878; The Cross (religious poems), 1879; The
Choice of Books (essays on reading), 1881; American Litera-
ture, 2 vols., 1886-8; and a very delightfully-written novel
entitled The End of the Beginning, the scene of which is laid
in Hallowell. In addition to these works. Professor Richardson
has edited Cooper's The Last of the Mohickns, Poe s Works,
Daniel Webster for Young Americans, and, in connection with
other editors, The College Book, The International Cyclopaedia,
and the World's Best Poetry. Professor Richardson has
^ BartleWs Familiar Quotations
190 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
attained an enviable distinction both as a college professor and
an author, and he is recognized in scholarly and literary circles as
a standard authority on American Literature. He is proudly
claimed by Hallowell as one of her most gifted and distin-
guished sons.
According to an old-fashioned and oft-quoted expression,
in our old town, there were certain men who were *'the corner-
stones and pillars of society." This phrase has now lost much
of its significance, but we can recall the time when it was not
only an elegant figure of speech but a literal truth. In the
civic and social structure of our community, there was a class
of men that occupied places of honor and trust, and filled them
so worthily that no one ever questioned their right to perpetual
permanency in these positions. These men were individual char-
acters. They were known and received for what they were.
They were not men who were popular for a day, or a year,
and who were then suddenly dropped from the regard of the
public. The reputation which they had built up for themselves
was secure. Character told in those earlier times; and the
deep and lasting impression made by such men upon the com-
munity can not be better illustrated than in the life of
the Honorable Simon Page.
Mr. Page was a man of sterling character, of exceptional
business ability, of philanthropic spirit, of sincere devotion to
the interests of the town, and of active and unswerving
allegiance to all moral reforms and to the principles of Chris-
tianity. He was the son of Samuel and Mary Whittier Page,
and was born in Readfield, Maine, in 1804. When a young
man, he came to Hallowell and gradually built up an extensive
business in oils, paints, drugs, and medicines. He engaged
largely in local manufacturing enterprises, and was one of the
principal promoters of the Hallowell cotton factory, and of the
oilcloth works of Stickney and Page, later of Page, Wilder, and
Company. He was also, for some time. President of the Hal-
lowell Savings Institution. Mr. Page served as Mayor of
Hallowell for several successive terms, and his first address to
the board of aldermen discloses the true public spirit and high
Mrs. Simon Page
Page
191
moral standard of the man whom the new-made city delighted
to honor.
One of the educational projects, very dear to the heart of
Mr. Page, was the establishment of the Hallowell Classical
School. On this institution he expended much of "his time and
thought, and a large portion of his private fortune. But the
work which received his most devoted service, and which has
been undoubtedly the most far-reaching in its effects on the
life and character of the young people of Hallowell, was his
long superintendence of the Old South Sunday School. For
fifty years, Mr. Page carried on this work with indefatigable
energy and enthusiasm and in a spirit of entire consecration to
the cause. The influence of the example, precepts, and per-
sonal teaching of such a man upon the many successive classes
of children under his charge can never be adequately esti-
mated. His service as deacon of the Old South Church
covers a period of twenty-seven years; and his whole life
serves as an example of ideal Christian citizenship.
Mr. Simon Page married June 6, 1830, Fraziette, daughter
of Dr. Benjamin Page. Their children were: Benjamin, who
married, in 1859, Isabella Kerswell, of Skowhegan; Julia, who
married, August 21, 1866, Henry Sampson, Esq., of New
York; and Miss Annie F. Page, who now resides in Hallowell.
Mr. Simon Page died July 30, 1878. Mrs. Fraziette Page died
February 5, 1889. The following tribute to her memory is
from the pen of one who knew her well :
Fraziette Page was the third daughter of Dr. Benjamin
and Abigail Page, born in Hallowell, there married, and there
spending her whole life. Her marriage to Mr. Simon Page
was an ideal one, and together they worked and lived for the
good of others. Mr. Page was devoted to his church and
Sunday School, as well as to his business, and Mrs. Page, to
works of benevolence and mercy. All the missionary and
philanthropic movements of the day were in their thoughts and
plans even to the then much-despised cause of the antislavery
society. For many years, Mrs. Page was President of the
Hallowell Benevolent Society, and her deeds for the poor were
numberless. Of great energy, strong in her religious faith, and
192
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
with a wonderful power of endurance, she used all her endow-
ments of mind and body as gifts of God for which she was
accountable to Him."
The home of the Pages has ever been noted for its
hospitality. Here the minister, the missionary, the professor,
the student, the social guest of high degree, and the poor of
low estate, were alike welcomed and cordially entertained. In
these latter days, the Page house, which is now the residence
of Miss Annie F. Page, has lost none of its old-time atmosphere
of hospitality ; nor do the hand and heart of the present mistress
of the mansion lack the generous helpfulness and sympathetic
spirit characteristic of the former occupants of this dwelling.
Happy are the guests who sit in the old Chippendale chairs
around its cheery hearthstone, or who have a place at the hos-
pitable board laden with antique silver and the beautiful old
china brought from far-off countries in the famous old seafar-
ing days. Thrice happy they who are permitted to open the
doors of the great shelf-lined store-rooms, to *^take down" the
rare and curious plates, the quaint pitchers, and the tall, long-
empty, drinking glasses, or to range at will in the spacious
pantry of the forty platters.
The Simon Page house, like many of the old mansions of
Hallowell, has a handsome doorway, with quaint side windows
and chaste colonial pilasters of much architectural merit. On
yesternight, this doorway framed a fitting picture. It was that
of my lady hostess, in "lavender and old lace," standing be-
neath its portals, and holding above her head a gleaming
candle to light the pathway, beneath the giant elms, for her
departing guests. To those who paused a moment for a last
good-night, this picture seemed symbolic of the old-time spirit
of hospitality which still abides within the homes of Hallowell.
/
The Old South Church
XII
THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH
" It was built for God — it was built for man ;
A Church of Christ, on the Master's plan.'*
— Mary B. Moody.
A LEARNED Puritan divine, the Rev. Cotton Mather,
once gave a recipe for making a New England village.
The ^'ingredients" were a meeting-house, a school-
house, a training field, and a town-meeting. Old
Hallowell certainly possessed all of these requisites; but the
chief essential, in the opinion of our forefathers, was the meet-
ing-house. Accordingly, in the year 1796, the Old South
Church was built.
This famous old meeting-house was for nearly a century *
the most venerated and most imposing edifice in . Hallowell.
Its majestic proportions, its noble architecture, and its beautiful
belfry tower, designed by Charles Bulfinch, combined to give
this old-time meeting-house an artistic charm unusual in its day.
Standing at quite an elevation above the river shore, the meet-
ing-house was the most conspicuous object in the landscape,
and with its belfry, which towered above the houses clustered
on the hill-side, it gave to Hallowell the aspect of an old
cathedral town.
The Old South was long called the "standing church" of
Hallowell. As a moral and spiritual power in the community,
it reigned supreme. This church, from its foundation, created
the public sentiment of the town, assumed the guidance of the
personal religious experience of its members, apd gave to society
a spiritual and intellectual element that not only regulated the
morals of the place but refined and elevated the every-day life
of the people.
This ancient church was organized, February 25, 1790,
and was called the Congregational Church of Christ of the
194
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Chester Plantation. The origin of this name is easily explained.
At the time of the organization of the church, Hallowell was
regarded as the center of all public interests for a large extent
of out-lying country, including Chester Plantation in the Sandy
River valley. The goodly settlers in this remote region were
quite unwilling to dispense with the privileges of the gospel and
therefore traveled regularly with their families, from Chester to
Hallowell, a distance of thirty miles, to attend divine worship
on the Sabbath.
The leading men of Chester soon became disaffected with
the irregular and the sometimes unorthodox preaching of the
various ministerial candidates who officiated at the Fort, and
therefore besought some of the brethren to unite with them and
form a new church at the Hook. This was done; and the
Chester members gave their name to the church w^ith the
privilege of retaining it when they should be able to have a
church organization of their own. The Chester members were
Samuel and Jonathan Sewall, Thomas and Abram Davenport.
The Hallowell members were Deacon Benjamin Pettengill,
Deacon Obediah Harris, William McMaster, Samuel Sweat,
and Henry Sewall, After a few years the members from Chester
withdrew, and the church at the Hook changed its name to the
"Congregational Church of Hallowell." In 1794, the members
of this church voted *'to hire a teacher of Piety, Religion, and
Morality," and to take measures for the erection of a meeting-
house. In November of this year, a call was extended to the
Rev. Eliphalet Gillet, who was ordained August 12, 1795. The
Church at this time had ten members, all of whom were men.
The first services under Mr. Gillet's pastorate, were held
in the Academy; but, in 1796, a lot of land was purchased from
Peter Clark and others for ^150, and a committee consisting of
Moses Sewall, Robert Randall, and Jason Livermore was
appointed "to procure materials and proceed to build in such a
way and manner" as they deemed expedient, "subject to the
discretion of the Parish." The "way and manner" adopted by
this committee, proved most satisfactory to the church members
of that day and to succeeding generations. The church, as
completed in 1798, was a large, well-proportioned edifice entered
The Old South Church
195
by three doors which were reached by a long flight of steps at
either side of the east facade. Not many years afterwards, these
doors were transformed into windows, and an entrance was
made in the vestibule below. As first completed, this meeting-
house had a square belfry in which hung a bell purchased from
Paul Revere, in 1802.
The original subscription list, containing the names of the
contributors to the purchase of this bell, and also a manuscript
letter from Paul Revere and Son, may still be seen at the
Hubbard Free Library.
The letter is dated August 17, 1802, and reads as follows:
Mr. Jason Livermore,
Sir: Yours of the 12th ins't came to hand. The lowest price is ten
shillings & eight pence per lb. The bells are seldom broken except by
accident, it is impossible to warrant them for any time. But should the
Bell break by any fault in the Making, we shall feel ourselves account-
able. If you will pay the money to Capt. Bruister we will settle with
him for the bell. We are with Respect
Your Humble
Servants
PAUL REVERE & SON.
In 1806, the famous belfrey tower designed by Charles
Bulfinch was added to the church. This belfrey was sur-
mounted by a lantern top with an octagonal pinacle. Beautiful
columns at the angles of the lantern supported its roof; and
between the columns were arched openings which gave
harmony and picturesqueness to the effect. This bell-tower
stood for seventy years and lost none of its architectural
beauty. *Tt had in it," as someone has aptly written, "a
quality of immortality,— that subtle something, which we call
soul that makes the difference between the work of an artist
and a mechanic. The architect breathed life into it. It was
not a copy of anything, but a new creation, /it had an idea in
it, a thought, a permanence. Could it have been preserved
hundreds of years it would have been then as fresh and beau-
tiful as the day v/hen first completed."
The inside of the church was spacious and marked by
unobtrusive excellence and harmony of design. The pulpit at
196
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
the west end was a tall semi-circular structure reached by
stairs on either side. The galleries occupying three sides of
the house were supported by large and well-proportioned
columns thoroughly in harmony with other parts of the
interior of the church. The pews of the church were long and
wide with high backs and doors. These large pews were
usually well filled throughout the church even in winter when
the house was unheated save by the small foot-stoves, which
the little boys carried for their mother's use, and which, we
doubt not, the mother often tucked under the feet of her little
ones. In 1816, a stove was for the first time placed in the
church to temper the frigid atmosphere for these faithful old-
time worshipers.
The Old South Church from the time of the ordination of
its first minister, in 1795, to the year 1907 has had twelve
pastors: Rev. Eliphalet Gillet, Rev. George Shepard, Rev.
Eli Thurston, Rev. Nathan Rogers, Rev. J. P. Skeele, Rev.
H. Q. Butterfield, Rev. A. Fuller, Rev. C. G. McGuUy,
Rev. Charles A. White, Rev. Edward Chase, Rev. John R. •
Boardman, Rev. Charles A. Wight. The first pastor. Rev.
Eliphalet Gillet, ministered to the people for thirty-two years.
His name and his personality are associated with all of the
early records of the church and of the town. His pastorate
presents an example of the typical old-time ministry, when a
candidate, once accepted, was practically ordained for life. In
those days, the talents of the minister were exalted ; his virtues
were reverenced; his follies and weaknesses, if perchance he
had any, were charitably condoned. The man was apotheo-
sized by his office. His authority was unquestioned, and the
dignity of his position was unassailed. Happy were the
congregations that, like the Old South of Hallowell, were
fortunate enough to secure a pastor in all respects so
acceptable as Dr. Gillet.
This representative old-time minister was regarded as an
able, learned, and eloquent preacher. We are told, by those
who remember him, that Dr. Gillet was "a refined and
scholarly-looking man, tall and slender and very graceful. He
always appeared smoothly shaven and neatly attired in black
Residence of Rev. Dr. GiIvI^et
The Old South Church
197
broadcloth. In the pulpit he wore linen bands and black silk
gloves. He never drove a horse, but always employed a boy
or man to drive for him when his duties took him into the
country. He resided in the old brick parsonage on Second
Street, now the home of Hon. J. Warren Fuller. Here Mr.
Gillet cultivated a garden famed for its beautiful flowers ; and
in this garden the children of the parish were often welcomed
and delightfully entertained. "Our Puritan minister, " writes
Rev. John S. C. Abbott, **was as tender and loving as an angel.
He never uttered a harsh word. The most fastidious taste
could never be annoyed by any expression that passed his lips
in the pulpit. His sermons would now attract attention by
their rhetorical excellence."
A collection of Dr. Gillet's sermons are preserved in the
Hubbard Free Library. It has been said of them that "they
are models of pulpit eloquence and packed full of wise
counsels." They won for this old-time preacher the name of
the "Addison of Maine."
In 1827, after a long pastorate of thirty-two years, Dr.'
Gillet was dismissed from the Old South Congregational
Church to become Secretary of the Maine Missionary Society.
This Society was organized June 18, 1807, at the house of Dr.
Gillet. One hundred years later, the centennial anniversary of
the founding of the society was celebrated in the same house.
On this interesting occasion an address was read by Rev. C. A.
Wight, pastor of the Congregational Church of Hallowell, who
paid an appreciative and worthy tribute to the life and services
of Dr. Gillet as minister of the Old South Church and Secretary
of the Maine Missionary Society.
Rev. Eliphalet Gillet was born in Colchester, Connecticut,
November 19, 1768. He graduated from Dartmouth College in
1 791, studied theology with the famous Dr. Spring of Newbury-
port, and was ordained minister of the Old South Church of
Hallowell, August 12, 1795. He married. May 25, 1805, Mary
Gurley, daughter of Rev. John Gurley, and had a large and in-
teresting family of ten children. Dr. Gillet died October 19,
1845. His burial place in the Hallowell cemetery was visited
by the delegates to the Centenary of the Maine Missionary So-
198 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
ciety, and impressive services were held, at sunset, on June 18,
1907, in memory of this famous minister of a century ago.
An interesting description of some of the prominent
members of the Old South congregation has been given to us
by the Rev. J. H. Ingraham in his Lights and Shadows of the
Past:
"There used to be a great deal of wealth and fashion and
aristocracy displayed at the Old South. . . . The broad
aisle pews were considered, as we believe they are now-a-days,
the most desirable and genteel, and the more genteel the
nearer the pulpit. We can remember there old Dr. Vaughan,
with his venerable J ohn-Quincy- Adams-like figure, in his re-
spectable suit of black and ruffles, and his powdered hair and
queue. . . . There was also to be seen every Sabbath,
Judge Robbins in a blue surtout and wide plaited ruffles with
his head powdered white as snow, and his queue wound with
black ribbon and neatly tied with a bow. He always wore a
white vest and carried a gold-headed cane, with very elegant
white doe-skin gloves. Judge Dummer also, a portly and
noble-looking gentleman, in ruffs and queue and powder,
usually dressed in a black coat with broad skirts and buff
breeches, with white top boots. There too were to be found
the two venerable Dr. Pages, father and son, gentlemen of fine
persons and courtly dignity of appearance. The elder was
a noble specimen of the elderly gentleman of the close of the
last century, . . . the latter leaving behind him a name
that will long be distinguished in the annals of medical juris-
prudence.
"In another part of the church, was 'old Squire Perley'
with his straight queue which was rather carelessly tied, and
his coat collar besprinkled with powder. He was a prominent
member of the bar, a man of great intellect, and distinguished
for his wit and peculiarities. In the southwest corner pew
sat Gideon Oilman; and in the next, John Rice, as constant as
the minister, though his home was distant four miles. In the
northwest corner was Judge Wilde, afterwards Judge of the
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, seated in a rocking-
chair in the center, his family surrounding him on three sides.
The Old South Church
199
In the northeast corner square pew sat John Sewall, for many
years parish clerk, who, just as the services were to begin,
would rise and cry intentions of marriage, much to the grati-
fication of eager Usteners.
**In the south gallery sat Mr. Phineas Yeaton. Next east
sat Thomas and Joseph Leigh and Mr. Elias Bond; east of
them were seats for strangers and stray boys. In the gallery
on the north side was *old Deacon Gow,' as he was called, a
little short man, square built, leaning over with his hand to his
ear (for he was a little deaf) to catch every word, sometimes
looking back to certain noisy boys who had stolen up stairs
away from their parents, and shaking his finger at them with a
dark knitting of his shaggy brows. He was a terror to juvenile
evil-doers, and once he acted as * tithing man,' an office now
unknown, and would go out and bring in by the ears all
truant boys. At such times he carried a long, red staff of
office. He was a deacon in the Old South Church almost
from its commencement to his death. He was longremem-,
bered for his life-long, consistent piety. Opposite him was Mr.
John Merrick, a remarkable man, whom those who have once
seen can never forget. In his later years, with his elastic,
graceful figure, his unusually intellectual features, and his long
snowy locks, he was the picture of a patriarch. Near him was
another whose noble, benevolent, snow-white head once seen
could never be forgotten. As he rises in the last prayer what an
imposing figure he displays! This is Mr. Charles Vaughan, an
English gentleman of retiring habits and agricultural tastes,
whose estate was just out of town and whose gardens were the
wonder of the whole region. And there were Dummers,
Moodys, Sewalls, Leonards, Abbotts, Cheevers, Emmons,
Farrels, Gilmans, Doles, Leighs, Bonds, Smiths, and Pages, and
scores of others all worthy of special mention:
''The singers' seats, two rows in each ^ gallery , extended
from the north to the south galleries. Mr. Samuel Tenney,
before the days of the organ, was leader of the choir, and he, in
his grey coat, wielded a large bow over the strings of a
mammoth bass viol. With what a clear musical voice he
gives the pitch, while a well-trained choir gives with fine effect
200
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
one of Watts' hymns. Preceptor Moody, Messrs. John
Merrick, Jacob Abbott, S. G. Ladd, Samuel Locke, Samuel
Manning, and David Heard were the principal male singers.
Later, Mr. Paul Stickney, a leader among leaders, was choir-
director for many years. The female singers, were modestly
partitioned off in a compartment of their own. The leading
parts were taken by Mrs. Thomas Bond and Miss Lucy G.
Dummer, afterwards Mrs. Samuel K. Gilman."
There was at this time no organ in the church, but, in
1823, a fine instrument, made in England, at a cost of nine hun-
dred dollars, was purchased. About half of this amount was con-
tributed by the grandchildren of Benjamin Hallowell, Esq. This
fine old organ with its Gothic front, its gilded pipes, and sweet-
toned, harmonious keys held a revered place in the sanctuary
until, in the lamentable fire of 1878, it mingled its dust and
ashes with those of the old South meeting-house.
A beautiful tribute to the Old South, and to the music of
its choir, once came floating back to Hallowell from the far-off
seas of the Orient. It was from the pen of the Kennebecker
whom we all know as that loyal son of Hallowell, Captain
John F. Drew. This tribute should be enshrined among the
archives of the church.
"Paul Stickney led the choir, — Barnekoy presided at the
organ. They sang:
**Oh, when thou city of my God, shall I thy courts ascend,
Where congregations ne'er break up and Sabbaths have no end —
In joy! in joy! — and peace! and peace! — " \
A soft soprano sang, "In joy and peace," alone; then the
full choir in mighty chorus, — "In joy and peace in thee!" —
John Odlin Page, the basso, going way down among the notes
where but few men could go. How I remember this. There
was the great congregation on their feet facing the singers ; it
was late in the afternoon, and the sun, getting ready to decline
over the hills behind the church, sent glories in through the
back windows on many of the best men and women in Hal-
lowell. Young men, men in their prime, men with silvery
locks; fair maidens, beautiful women, true matrons with silver
The Old South Church
201
threads among the gold, women grown old and gray in sorrow
and trouble. There were the Pages, Rufus K., then the great
steamboat man of the state, Simon, so well known and true,
and Charles, whom everyone far and near knew. Then the
Doles and Stickneys, the Masters, Smiths, and Livermores,
and so many more that I might mention all with honest re-
spect and pride, . . . how plain it all comes back to me.
. . . Most of that assembled congregation have gone
*Where congregations ne'er break up and Sabbaths have no
end.' Somehow to my young mind the ascending of the
Heavenly courts, the streets of shining gold, the gates of
pearl, got fixed, as though Paul Stickney, the sweet soprano
voice, John Odlin Page, and the other singers would have
much to do with them and the Heavenly choir; there would be
sweet-toned organs with gilded pipes, wonderful to behold and
hear, as well as heavenly harps and angels, and silvery-haired
men and golden-haired women, in that beautiful abode; and my
father would be there holding me by the hand lest I should lose
my way and stray off to some bad place, and Pastor Thurston
would raise his arms over the waiting congregation who would
turn round and face him for their benediction in the last rays of
the glorious sun, with a circle over his head, saying: Holiness
becometh thy House^ oh God!
**I have witnessed impressive religious ceremonies in the
great cathedrals and churches in the seaports and other cities I
have visited. I have stood where the grand music of the best
masters rang through the minster walls, shaking and rustling
banners and guidons that had hung there for centuries. The
last was when the Arch-Bishop of all the Philippines per-
formed High Mass at a celebrated religious festival in the
great Cathedral at Manilla. As he was borne from the altar in
his palanquin, or chair of state, down the bro^d aisle, he passed
very near me, with his crozier and mitred / hat and robes of
gold. Hundreds of voices with a full orchestra and the great
organ gave the seductive, witching music of the Romish
church, now low, now in great hosannas; the thronged pro-
cession with priests and monks of different orders, with bell
and cowl, chanted their orisons; the soft Indian light came in
202
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
through stained glass windows, rare and costly; there were
crowded worshippers on their knees in adoration; and what
else, what beside the swelling censers, the perfumes, and lull-
ing, soothing influences of precious burning gums? Why, my
mind was far away to that Old South Cathedral Church in
Hallowell; and it was Paul Stickney again and his choir, and
the soft sunset, and the congregation, and angels, and * Jeru-
salem, my Heavenly Home,' and myself a little boy holding on
to my father's hand. . . . Yes, whether it be the Stabat
Mater, or the Rosary, or the Benedicite, or anything else, my
mind invariably wanders back to that old time, in the Old
South church, the Hallowell Cathedral (to me), and I immedi-
ately hear again, ^Jerusalem, my Heavenly Home.' "
In 1839, the Paul Revere bell, for some unexplained
reason, was exchanged for a new one, and a clock was placed in
the church at the same time. An amusing anecdote is related
of this clock, by Miss Annie F. Page, in her valuable and
interesting Historical Sketch of the Old South Church. "This
clock," as Miss Page writes, "usually performed its work like
any well-behaved instrument of its kind, but once, becoming
tired probably of the quiet round of duty, it played a trick on
the congregation which well-nigh produced disastrous results.
One pleasant summer Sunday, the pastor, Mr. Thurston, ex-
changed pulpits with Mr. Peet of Gardiner, and a large audi-
ence was assembled to hear and do honor to the stranger. In
the midst of the discourse a most unearthly noise was heard
which paralyzed the preacher, and brought the congregation to
their feet. The guns of an attacking enemy could not have
been more startling. Some thought it was an earthquake
capable of swallowing up the whole town; some, that the last
day had come, and all, with blanched faces, awaited the result
in horror. One young man fainted and was seized by the arms
and legs and borne from the church. The occupant of the
northwest corner pew raised the window, put out all his
children, and arranged himself in readiness for a jump in case
the walls should fall. One tall, angular sister frantically
waved her long arms beckoning the minister, who was calmly
awaiting the result, and crying out: 'Come down, come down,
The Old South Church
203
save yourself, save yourself!' No one could account for the
terrible noise, and no one could tell its source. It continued
one or two minutes, increasing in intensity, when it suddenly
stopped, just as Mr. Burnham, the High School teacher, who
had been into the porch, rushed back exclaiming, 'Don't be
alarmed; it's only the clock running down!' It was after-
wards learned that the clock had been wound up that morning
and the weight was at its highest point. The pole that held
the rachet wheel had given way, causing the "wheels of time to
fly swifter round." Mr. Peet did not attempt to finish his
sermon.
In 1855, about the time when New England people as a
class, began to tire of everything that was antique and old-
fashioned, whatever its artistic merits, the Old South Meeting-
house was pronounced "old-fashioned and ugly," and extensive
repairs and the most deplorable "improvements" were made.
The great columns were supplanted by little sticks about as
large as a man's arm ; the windows were pointed out in Gothic
style which harmonized with nothing else in the building. The
old pulpit was thrown away, the arched inscription behind it, —
Holiness becometh Thine Housc^ O Lord^ forever — was re-
lentlessly blotted out; but to the hearts of the people, the
meeting-house remained the same revered Old South.
Then, at last, there came a melancholy day when the
familiar Old South Church stood no longer in our midst. On
the fateful night of December i, 1878, this ancient and ven-
erated landmark was utterly destroyed by fire. Every effort
was made to save the church, but all in vain. The tongues of
fire fiends curled around its pillars, darted in and out of its
windows, crept swiftly up its walls, and leaped triumphantly to
the very top of the beautiful old bell-tower. The whole popu-
lation of the old town stood, at first wild, and then mute with
sorrow, while the devastating element irresikibly, exultantly,
did its direful work.
Those who loved the old church best will never forget the
splendid yet heart-breaking spectacle of this memorable con-
flagration. As those who in their latest hours recall in swift
review the scenes of a whole long life, so the men and women
204
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
who constituted the soul of which this old meeting-house was
the earthly tenement, stood under the smoke-dimmed skies
while through their minds surged the memories of their own
lives and the traditions of their fathers. Visions of stately men
and women pass once more up and down the minster aisles.
Little children nestle, half in fear and half in joy, beside their
mothers in the great high-backed pews. The sunlight streams
in through the tall Gothic windows, and words of holy prayer
are ascending from the altar. The people hear the great bell
toll once more for the passing soul of him who first dispensed
the bread of life within these crumbling walls. They hear
the sweet-toned organ, and the sweet voices chanting, "How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him who bringeth
good tidings," as a young man walks up the aisle to receive the
holy ordinances of the ministry. Each soul in silence recalls
its own experience, while the clamor, the roar, and the cries of
the surging multitude fill the air. Suddenly there is a mighty
crash. All eyes turn upward; the red light shines for the last
time on the white face of the old church-clock, and at exactly
ten minutes past four, the beautiful and beloved bell-tower
falls, and the Old South meeting-house is no more.
To the memory of the "Old South Church of Hallowell,"
remains this tribute from the pen of Miss Mary A. Moody:
The Old South Church of Hallowell!
Sweet and clear, like a silver bell,
Like breath of spring or song of birds,
Come to many, these simple words.
The stranger may pass with careless eye,
The liquid syllables heedless by:
Not so the hearts that have loved it well,
The Old South Church of Hallowell!
How rose that Church from the lowly sod.
When the best they had men gave to God,
Hewn from the heart of the living tree,
Tall, and goodly, and fair to see?
Slowly it rose, to their waiting eyes,
A holy thing for sacrifice. —
With earnest heart and purpose true,
They "builded better than they knew. "
The Old South Church
205
No stately ritual echoed there:
Few and simple the words of prayer;
The consecration need scarce be spoken ;
The House was God's without word or token:
It was built for God — it was built for man ;
A Church of Christ, on the Master's plan.
They passed it on to our love and care,
Their holy and beautiful House of Prayer.
Is it dead? Did it die when it passed from sight,
' Twixt dark and dawn that wintry night?
Die — Is there any such word as die,
For faith and love and loyalty?
Doth God forget the hands that wrought
To make just here a hallowed spot?
The words, from lips growing white and set,
' * Remember the Church ! ' ' Doth he forget?
Pour out the silver — pour out the gold.
In the Master's ear let the tale be told.
From near and far must the treasure come ;
Ye wanderers — send of your fulness home,
From bursting bags or the widow's hand,
With an equal eye, each gift is scanned.
And large or small, they shall all be one,
When the Master saith to his own, **Well done."
Spotless and pure, must our temple rise,
A holy thing for sacrifice;
Hewn from the heart of the solid rock
Patiently, carefully, block by block.
Faint not nor fail; it shall well endure;
Not alone ye toil; the work is sure.
Do they watch the piling, those men of yore?
The Master watcheth; it may be more.
The Old South Church of Hallowell!
Ay, build it strong, and build it well.
To stand once more where it stood so long,
For right and truth — a shame to wrong.
Those liquid syllables cannot die : /
Ivist to the echo floating by.
Sweet and clear like a silver bell.
The Old South Church of Hallowell!
The corner-stone of the new "Old South" was laid May
1883; and on October 28, 1885, a beautiful granite church
206
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
was dedicated as a temple to the Lord. To-day, instead of the
old familiar belfrey, a Gothic spire arises upon our sight; and in
place of the sweet-toned old English instrument stands a grand
modern organ presented to the church by Mrs. Henry Sampson,
of New York, in memory of her father, Deacon Simon Page.
But the old Old South is not forgotten, nor has its glory
departed from our gates.
During all these years, however, Hallowell had not been
without other houses of worship. The Rev. Jesse Lee, the
pioneer apostle of Methodism in New England, preached at
Hallowell, October 13, 1793, and made some converts to his
fold. The Methodist Society grew and flourished, and, in
1825-6, the church, now standing on Middle Street, was erected.
Among the notable early ministers of this church were the
Rev. Mark Trafton, of some literary fame; the Rev. D. B.
Randall, a man of power and influence in his day; the Rev.
Charles F. Allen, a scholarly and devout man, who lifted his
people to a higher intellectual and spiritual plane than they
had before attained; the Rev. Charles Morse of saintly
memory; and the Rev. Caleb Fuller who was no less revered as
a pastor than beloved as a friend.
The Baptist Church was organized in 1807. Its most
famous early ministers were the Rev. D. Chessman and the
Rev. S. Adlam, under whose ministry the church "enjoyed
revivals of marked power," and a constantly increasing mem-
bership. The Baptish Church, built in 1821, was destroyed by
fire in 1868. The loss of this venerated landmark, and of its
sweet-toned bell, was greatly deplored by the people of Hal-
lowell.
The Universalist Society was founded May 8, 1842, and
the church was built in 1843. Its first pastor was the Rev. N.
Gunnison. This church had a large and influential fellowship,
and its choir was composed of some of the best musicians in
the town. Its history belongs chiefly to the last half of the
century.
The Unitarian Society first met in the old Academy in
1823, under the ministry of the Rev. C. C. Everett. In 1824,
a church was built; Mr. Everett was ordained as pastor and
The Old South Church
207
officiated with great acceptance for several years. A large
number of wealthy and influential families united with this
church; and it soon became necessary to enlarge the building
in order to accommodate the congregation. Mr. Everett was
succeeded by Mr. Miles, an energetic, philanthropic man
of broad mind and evangelical spirit. He was followed by the
Rev. Mr. Cole, the last of the settled ministers. During the
closing years of Mr. Cole's service, his congregation was thinned
by the death or removal from town of many of his members;
and, a few years later, the church was finally closed. In 1868,
it was sold to the Baptist Society, and remodeled. In its
original form, this old church was quite unlike any other meet-
ing-house in town. It was a plain rectangular edifice, with no
steeple, and no bell, but with a recessed portico, in the east
front, supported by four large Doric columns, which gave the
church an air of classic dignity and simple grandeur. The
other churches of Hallowell were not organized until a later
period. The Old South remained, for many years, the domi-
nant church, and doubtless, at times, it did "rule Hallowell
with an iron hand." For a long period the other churches
struggled against the tide of popular sentiment. The Baptists
were at first looked upon with disfavor; the Methodists were
regarded as "wild-fire"; the Unitarians, though cultured and
wealthy, were considered heretical; the Universalists were out-
spokenly dangerous, and the certainty of their salvation was
seriously questioned by many people. But in spite of all this, the
combined efforts of all these denominations stimulated, deep-
ened, and broadened the religious sentiment of the people,
and produced a law-abiding. God-fearing community. "In the
early days of the Old South," writes the Rev. J. H. Ingraham,
"there was but one road to heaven. Afterwards, a good many
gates were put up across it, for every man would go in at his
own gate; but we trust that all will find themselves coming out
on the right road at last."
XIII
THE HALLOWELL ACADEMY
AND OTHER SCHOOLS
"Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."
— Dedicatory Address, May 5, 1795.
N OLD-TIME New England matron once said to her
^% little son, "Child, if God make thee a good Christian
^^^V, and a good scholar, thou hast all thy mother ever
asked for thee." This sentence expresses the spirit
that prevailed in Old Hallowell in the days of its early found-
ers. The first thought of the early settlers was for a church,
that they might make good Christians of their children; their
next thought was for the establishment of an institution
of learning, that they might make good scholars of their sons
and daughters. Accordingly, very soon after their first meet-
ing-house was built at the Fort, a movement was organized for
the founding of a permanent school of liberal learning. On
August 31, 1 79 1, an act for the incorporation and endowment
of an Academy at Hallowell Hook was signed by Governor
Hancock, and passed by the General Court of Massachussetts.
This Academy, in accordance with the design of its
founders, was a strictly classical school; and upon its board of
trustees were some of the ablest and best educated men of the ,
Kennebec valley. A building was erected and made ready for
occupancy in May, 1795, at which time, a "splendid seal" was
presented to the institution by Charles Vaughan, Esq., and a
dedicatory sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Bradford of
Pownalborough .
Mr. Woodman was the first preceptor of the Academy;
and the school opened with well-warranted expectations of suc-
cess. At the end of the first year, there were about forty
students in attendance; and a public exhibition was given to
demonstrate to the friends of the institution the progress made
The Hallowell Academy
209
by the pupils. On this occcasion, as we read in the cohimns
of the Tocsin for May 10, 1796, "the exercises consisted of
several orations in English, Latin, and Greek, and of a
number of pertinent and interesting dialogues, which so
affected the audience that they at times were unable to re-
strain their risibles, and again their eyes were dashed with
tears." The programme was enlivened by "vocal and instru-
mental music, under the direction of Mr. Belcher, the Handel
of Maine."
The number of pupils at the Academy rapidly increased.
They came not only from Hallowell, but from Augusta,
Gardiner, and other neighboring towns. The farmers' sons
and the ambitious sailor lads often saved enough from their
scanty wages to pay their tuition for several years ; and were
proud to be numbered among the students of the famous Hal-
lowell Academy. The establishment of this school added
materially to the upbuilding of the town, as many desirable
new settlers were attracted to Hallowell by its educational
advantages ; and the influence of the institution upon the intel-
lectual life of the people, at this period, proved inestimable.
Mr. Woodman was succeeded, in 1797, by Preceptor
Samuel Moody who conducted the school most successfully for
eight years. Then followed a long line of preceptors, among
whom were William Kinne, Joseph Lovejoy, John Hubbard,
D. R. Goodwin, James W. Bradbury, James Withington, Francis
Waterhouse, Charles B. Chace, and other able instructors.
Among the many notable men who received their early
education at the Hallowell Academy were : Samuel Merrick,
Esq., owner of extensive machine manufactories in Philadel-
phia, and one of the most prominent and public-spirited
residents of that city; Thomas B. Merrick, Esq., of German-
town, a wealthy merchant who devoted much of his life to
scholarly pursuits ; the eminent clergymen, J/ohn A. Vaughan,
George B. Cheever, Henry T. Cheever, John H. Ingraham,
and Dr. Elias Bond, missionary to Hawaii; the well-known
authors, Jacob and John S. C. Abbott; the Hon. John H.
Sheppard, Hon. George Evans, Hon. Ruel Williams and Hon.
William H. Clark; Chief Justice Nathan Weston; Charles
210
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Shaw, author of the History of Boston; the Rev. Henry V.
Emmons, Charles Dummer, Esq., Hon. Rufus K. Page, Hon.
John O. Page; Gorham D. Oilman and Henry W. Severance,
Consuls-General from Hawaii to United States ports; Captain
Charles A. Curtiss, military instructor in Wisconsin Univer-
sity ; Captain John H . Drew, author of sketches of ocean life
and foreign travel; General A. S. Dearborn, General Oliver O.
Howard, Captain John Hubbard, General Thomas H. Hubbard,
Professor Charles F. Richardson of Dartmouth College; and
others whose names are well remembered.
The names of the teachers and pupils of the old Academy
recall many pleasant reminiscences. Among the earlier pre-
ceptors, Samuel Moody taught for the longest time, and his
personality and character have been preserved by several vivid
bits of pen-portraiture. The Hon. John H. Sheppard writes:
*T was seven years under the care of Samuel Moody, preceptor
of the Hallowell Academy, a thorough Dartmouth scholar and
superior instructor. I can see, in the visions of the past, his
tall majestic form, like an admiral on the deck of his frigate,
treading the academic floor, arrayed in smallclothes, the cos-
tume of his time, with his bright blue eye watching over his
one hundred pupils at their desks. He was severe at times,
but affectionate, and used the ferule as a sceptre of righteous-
ness. I loved him, and was a favorite, for he let me study the
Eclogues of Virgil in school hours under the groves of the
Academy. His scholars turned out well in the world."
Mr. J. H. Ingraham, in his Lights and Shadows of the
Past, states that ''The Hallowell Academy was always under
the charge of a learned man of influence and character, and
usually he was of great personal dignity. His title was always
that of 'Preceptor'. . . . Old Preceptor Moody was a gentle-
man excellently well calculated to preside at the head of an
academy of the highest classical rank and popularity which this
school then enjoyed. He was of large stature, inclined to cor-
pulency, with a good deal of the air of an old-school gentleman.
He usually dressed in a snuff-colored, broad-skirted coat, and
black or buff short-clothes, with silver buckles, and white, or
in wet weather, greyish mixed long hose. He carried a gold-
The Hallowell Academy
211
headed India cane with a tassel of white leather. He wore his
hair in a queue, and as he powdered of a Sunday and on exam-
ination days, his shoulders were usually sprinkled with the
white dust. We stood in great awe of this Preceptor. He had
a very stern voice and was a rigid disciplinarian ; but in society
he was amiable and courteous. To us lads he was an object of
awe. He was very partial to scanning Virgil, and used to drill
us until we heartily wished there had never been such a poet as
Maro born. He particularly loved to hear himself scan that
famous line which describes the trotting of a horse, and which
is supposed to represent the sound of the quadrupedanting
steed over the resounding ground.
" *Hush! Do you not absolutely hear the horse trotting in
that hne.?' he one day triumphantly asked us, as he, for our
example and also for our admiration, sonorously scanned the
line. At the precise instant of his question an old white nag
that used to crop the grass on our playground, suddenly
trotted rapidly past the school-room door at . exactly the
measure at which the Preceptor had read the line. We all
laughed, every imp of us, for it was irresistible. I can see the
Preceptor's smiling eyes twinkle now, as he calmly waved his
hand after he thought we had laughed quite as much as was
necessary, and with a triumphant air looked around at his
Virgil class as he said with honest enthusiasm, *there you have
had an illustration, young gentlemen, from nature; and you
must allow that mine was the most natural' "
William Kinne, who succeeded Samuel Moody, was an
able and successful teacher. He was the reputed author of
Kinne s Arithmetic which was in use until 1840, in the schools
of Maine. But it is stated on unquestionable authority ^ that
the arithmetic, which was pubhshed in Mr. Kinne's name, was
really prepared by Mr. William Allen, of Nprridgewock, who
was an assistant teacher at the Academy when Mr. Kinne was
preceptor.
The Hon. James W. Bradbury, who resided in Augusta
until the advanced age of ninety-seven years, was never weary
^ Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Second Series, Vol. II, p. 382.
212 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
of talking of the time when he was preceptor of the old Hal-
lowell Academy, (1825-6), and of the cultured homes and the
charming women of Hallowell. Mr. William H. Page has also
given us some very interesting reminiscences of school life in
the old Hallowell Academy. He tells us of one preceptor who
studied law during the school hours and who was very impa-
tient if interrupted in that occupation by the slightest infraction
of the strict rule of silence, and who, if annoyed by any of the
small boys in the front seats, would send his ruler flying
against the culprit's head.
Under Mr. Joseph Lovejoy, in 1829, new methods were in-
troduced, and a female department, conducted by Miss Sibyl
Lovejoy, was added to the school. ''Preceptor Lovejoy,"
writes Mr. Page, "was a manly Christian, strict enough in
discipline, but never resorting to punishment of any kind ; the
ferule was neither used nor required to keep order in the
school. He was not at all concerned that his dignity might
suffer when he occasionally stood by encouraging the lads in
their out-door amusements. " Mr. Lovejoy even established a
rude gymnasium and instructed the lads in healthful exercises.
He also entertained the boys in his own home, and gave lec-
tures and talks to them on electricity and other interesting
subjects. By these means he won not only the respect, but the
affection of his pupils ; and he is remembered as one of the
ablest and most popular of the early preceptors of the Acad-
emy.
Daniel Raynes Goodwin, D. D., LL. D., Preceptor of the
Hallowell Academy from 1832 to 1834, was a man of rare
character and of scholarly attainments. He was born in North
Berwick, Maine, April 12, 181 1, graduated from Bowdoin Col-
lege, at the head of his class, in 1832, and came immediately to
Hallowell where, as preceptor of the Academy, he disclosed
those traits of mind and character that marked his after life.
In 1837, after having spent two years in travel and study in
Europe, he was elected Professor of Modern Languages to suc-
ceed Professor Longfellow at Bowdoin College. In 1847, Pro-
fessor Goodwin was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal
Church. He was afterward President of Trinity College,
The Hallowell Academy
213
Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, and, in 1864, Dean
of the Philadelphia Divinity School. He was a profound
thinker and scholarly writer, and was the author of nearly one
hundred treatises on educational, philosophical, and religious
subjects. It was said by the Rev. C. C. Everett that Professor
Goodwin possessed two distinctions that contributed to his suc-
cess as a teacher. One was that ^^he taught''' '*PIis hour
was crammed full of instruction." The other distinction was
*'his habit of inviting the students to his house to tea," — a
social innovation in those days, but one of mutual advantage to
both professor and student. Professor Goodwin's name is held
in perpetual remembrance, at Bowdoin, as the founder of the
Goodwin Commencement prize.
Another side of Professor Goodwin's character which gave
a brilliant lustre to his memory was **that mirthfulness and
genera] enjoyment of what was really bright and clever in
literature, in persons, in social and domestic life, which made
him, in his own home, the center of a group of young people,
delighting himself and them with witty things of all kinds." ^
Professor Goodwin married in 1838, Mary Merrick, daugh-
ter of Samuel and Hannah Merrick, and niece of John Merrick,
Esq., of Hallowell. Their children now living are: Anna
Harriet, wife of Mr. Benjamin Vaughan of Cambridge; Mary,
widow of the late Dr. William Canfield Spencer, U. S. A.; and
Harold Goodwin, Esq., of Philadelphia. Mrs. Daniel Raynes
Goodwin was known in her girlhood in Hallowell as ^'pretty
Mary Merrick." Her personal charms and loveliness of char-
acter are disclosed in her home life in Brunswick, Hartford,
and Philadelphia. Professor Smyth speaks of her engaging
gifts," and "charming home" which was **a perpetual fountain
of knowledge and life." Another Bowdoin friend describes the
home life of the Goodwins as "simple, uncor^Ventional, orderly,
refined, and Christian." Of Dr. Goodwin it has been truly
said that " Christian faith was the dominating keynote of his
life." ^ He was a man of strong piety in the noblest meaning of
^ Memoir of Daniel Raynes Goodwin^ p. 4
2 Ibid. p. 9
214
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
the word. His epitaph may be fittingly written in words of
his own choice:
'A servant of Jesus Christ, and for him a teacher of
Men.' "
Preceptor Withington was a "master" of the old-fashioned
dominant type who, while he held the school in wholesome
awe, was greatly respected by his pupils. He has been de-
scribed as "a tall, angular man, who walked the platform with
a long, straight stick, which he called a demonstrator, and
impressed his pupils like a king with a sceptre." His faculty
for imparting instruction was remarkable. A lady who, in her
youth, was under the instruction of Preceptor Withington, re-
cently said to me: "It made no difference whether the boys
and girls wished to learn or not — learn they must!" One of
the "over the river" boys has left us some pleasant remi-
niscences of his personal experience in Master Withington's
school.
"I came, with some other boys, from that part of the
town opposite Loudon Hill. At Sheppard's wharf, we joined
the scholars from the H^ill, each with a green satchel for his
books. It was a busy thoroughfare for us filled with great
things, — the road that took us to the Academy. The school-
room was so different from ours over the river; nice benches
and seats, large windows, a clean, cheerful, airy place. . . .
Mr. Withington's hobby was chemistry and he was second to
none in the state in that branch of study. . . . But with
all his passion for his studies, and all of his labors in the labora-
tory he always found time for a little music. Like many a
young man he had learned to play upon the flute. When he
found scholars enough for a choir, he introduced singing into
the school. He sang bass himself and we could always carry
three parts. He was very proud of this. But I think he
liked the blackboard better than music. If he could only get
us all deep into algebra, he was delighted. How our brains
cracked and heads ached with the problems he gave us to
solve. . . . He was fitting a class for college, and as we
were all in one room, what he said to one class was, of
course, listened to by the whole school. ... It always
The Hallowell Academy
215
seemed to me that those that did not study languages and
chemistry were as deep in them as those who did. I learned
French, almost as fast from hearing his class as though I had
been in it. Je noub Herat jamais.''
Two other pupils, Miss Helen Freeman and Miss Jennie
W. Paine, acquired the rudiments of Greek by hearing Mr.
Withington's class recite. When the Preceptor discovered
this fact, he invited these two young ladies to enter the class
with the young men who were taking their college preparatory
courses. This caused some disaffection, as girls had never
before been permitted to study Greek at the Academy. Both
of these young ladies made a record for brilliant and thorough
scholarship. Miss P'reeman is still a highly-esteemed teacher in
Burlington, New Jersey, where she has fitted many boys for
their college examinations in Greek.
The strong personality and successful methods of "Master
Withington" made a deep and lasting impression on the com-
munity, and under his instruction the school attained a wide
reputation. In 1853, Mr. Withington was called to German-
town, Pennsylvania, as Principal of its classical academy which
he made famous, during his long service there, by the scholarly
and well-trained students whom he sent forth to the great
universities of the country. Mr. Withington married Alfreda
Bosworth. He died at Amboy, New Jersey, in 1877, leaving
one son, Augustus H., and one daughter, Alfreda B. Withing-
ton, M. D., of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Mr. Francis Ashbury Waterhouse is remembered as one of
the most successful and highly-esteemed preceptors of the
Hallowell Academy. He was a man whose personal influence
was a potent factor in stimulating a love of study, and whose
method of instruction brought his classes to a high degree of
excellence. Mr. Waterhouse fitted for college in the Hallowell
Academy under Mr. Withington. He graduated from Bowdoin
in 1857, and taught a while in the South before beginning his
work in his home town. His ability as an instructor was soon
recognized abroad, and more influential and lucrative positions
soon lured him away from Hallowell. He taught most success-
fully the High Schools of Augusta and West Newton; and, in
2l6
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
1880, was elected head master of the English High School in
Boston, where, as a contemporary writer states, "he lent a hand
in teaching some thousands of Bostonese ideas how to shoot,"
and established an enviable reputation as one of the foremost
educators of the day. The following tribute to Mr. Waterhouse
is taken from the Boston News: ''Few, if any, men are better
known to the rising urban generation than Master Francis
Ashbury Waterhouse of the English High School. . . .
Master Waterhouse is a famiUar figure upon the streets. He
is tall and keen-eyed, and has gray hair and a luxuriant gray
beard. . . . He is immensely popular with the boys of the
'English High.' ... As a teacher he is very successful,
inspiring his classes with much of his own enthusiasm. He
has great capacity for work, and is thoroughly in love with his
noble profession." Mr. Waterhouse died in Paris while at the
height of his successful career, leaving one son to bear his
honored name.
The first building used as an academy was burned in 1804.
The second building was a two-story wooden edifice, painted
white, the "chief glory" of which was a bell-tower with a Paul
Revere bell. This building also was destroyed by fire, in 1839.
The brick building now standing was erected in 1841, and
remodelled in 1890. It was originally a rectangular edifice, of a
simple yet dignified style of architecture, with a classic portico
supported by tall Doric columns.
It is to this classic old Academy, as it stood before its
remodeling in 1890, that the hearts of the boys and girls of my
own generation went out in love and grateful reverence ; and it
may safely be said that there was never a better school of its
class than that taught at the Hallowell Academy, in the "fam-
ous sixties," when Mr. Charles B. Chace was preceptor. This
institution was then doing a splendid and enduring work in the
mental and moral culture of its pupils. Mr. Chace was a man
far in advance of his times, and eminently fitted for the head of
such a school. His methods were based entirely on the prin-
ciples of self-government and mutual improvement; and the
ideals of true manhood and womanhood were daily inculcated.
Every branch of learning was made perfectly plain and prac-
The Hallow ell Academy
217
tical, from "bookkeeping by double entry" to the calculating of
eclipses. Each boy and girl honestly aspired to the best work
possible; but woe to him or her who pretended to know any-
thing that he or she did not know! There was some intangible
element in the atmosphere of the school that tolerated no false
pretensions. The principle of living and working "upon
honor" was unconsciously absorbed by the pupil from the very
personality of the teacher. To have been under the instruction
and influence of such a man proved a life-long inspiration to his
pupils.
During the preceptorship of Mr. Charles B. Chace the
school attained a degree of mental and moral culture unexcelled
in the long and honorable history of the institution; and under
his methods, which were most unusual in his day, the Hallowell
Academy reached the climax of its power and usefulness.
There are not a few grown-up boys and girls in the world to-day
— and their faces stand out plainly before me as I write — who
gratefully acknowledge themselves wiser and better for their
school life with Mr. Chace in the old Hallowell Academy. To
these friends of my youth, I here inscribe the lines :
AVE ET VALE
Shrined in our hearts, forever fair, there stands
A pillared temple rising to the sun ;
Not grander were the courts of Eastern lands ;
Not prouder was the peerless Parthenon.
Here open vistas led through all the earth ;
Here Knowledge sat enthroned with starry crown ;
Here all the glorious dreams of youth had birth ;
Here let the heavens their solemn secrets down.
O happy temple on the sloping hill.
We hear afar thy softly ringing bell, ^
And send, in answer, words that throb and thrill, —
Ave et vale! Greeting and farewell !
Farewell ! unto the old familiar gates,
The stately columns and the halls of yore ;
Hail ! to the newly risen fane that waits
With all the future beckoning at the door.
2l8
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Hail ! to the tread of countless eager feet
That come and go the symphony to swell ;
Hail and farewell ! unto the phantoms sweet,
That haunt thy shades, beloved Hallowell !
Fair olden city on the river's shore,
Thou, through a measured century, hast kept
The grand inheritance our fathers bore,
When to thy wilds across the seas they swept.
And prized with liberty of life and faith,
Thy honored schools their proud traditions tell ;
Ivong mayst thou hear the echoing strain that saith:
Ave et vale! Greeting and farewell !
The mission of the old Hallowell Academy, during its
flourishing existence of more than three-quarters of a century,
was nobly and fully accomplished. It did not, however, cover
the whole field of education in Hallowell, but was supplemented
by private and public schools for children, by the Vaughan
Female Academy, and by the High School which, however, was
not established until 1840.
One of the earliest educational institutions of the town was
a typical "dame school," taught by Madame Bills, familiarly
known in her later years as "Granny Bills." The school of
Madame Bills was kept in her own little cottage located beneath
a great v/illow-tree on the banks of the Kennebec. Madame
Bills had all the latest and most improved methods of instruc-
tion of her time. She taught her children their daily lessons
from one of the famous old hornbooks then in use, as they
were in Shakespeare's day. The hornbook was a wooden
frame holding a single page on which was printed the alphabet,
the numerals, and usually the Lord's Prayer. This page was
covered with a sheet of transparent horn, to preserve the text
while the children learned their lessons. Hornbooks were
also, sometimes, by some anomaly, made of gingerbread.
Matthew Prior, in his Alma, speaks of the gingerbread hornbook
which is given by the "English Maid" to "Master John;" —
"And that the child may learn the better,
As he can name, he eats the letter. "
Madame Remington s School
219
I cannot say that Madame Bills ever sweetened the path
of learning for her pupils by giving them hornbooks of ginger-
bread, but I have been assured, by one who knew from good
authority, that she never ''used the twig." The fool's cap was
considered supreme punishment in the school of Madame Bills.
This notable founder of the "dame schools" of Hallowell lived
to be over ninety-six years of age. In her later years Granny
Bills was very poor, and her old house down in "Joppa, " be-
came so dilapidated that it was in danger of falling upon her
head. So her kind neighbors built a little new house for her in
the locality where the old one had stood. In this new abode
Granny Bills placed her bedstead, her Queen Anne chest of
drawers, her broom, and her light-stand with her big Bible up-
on it; and here, with the simple necessities of life, provided by
the good people of Hallowell, Granny Bills lived in peace and
happiness the remainder of her days.
Another and far more ambitious establishment was the
''Boarding and Day School" of Madame Remington which was
established in 1810. No better description of this school at its
most flourishing period, can be given than in Madame
Remington's own announcement in the American Advocate.
Mrs. REMINGTON respectfully informs the inhabitants
of Hallowell, and the public in general, that she has taken a
pleasant and commodious house at the corner of Winthrop and
2d Streets, at which place she will on Monday the 21st instant,
open an ACADEMY for the instruction of young ladies —
where will be taught the following branches, viz: Reading,
Writing, English Grammar, Arithmetic, Composition, Geogra-
phy, the use of the Globes and Maps, and the elements of
History. Also Drawing, Painting, Emb^roidery, Filigree;
with every kind of useful and ornamenl(al Needle-work.
TERMS: Board per Quarter $^7. Tuition pr. do. from ^4
to $10.
Mrs. REMINGTON assures those parents who may
entrust their children to her care, that every attention shall be
paid to their morals, manners and improvement.
220
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
N. B. Music and Dancing Masters, are engaged,
should a sufficient number of pupils offer.
After four successful years, Mrs. Remington was succeeded
by Mrs. Boardman who opened a Boarding and Day School
"for the instruction of Young Ladies in the Useful and Orna-
mental Branches of education." She adds, to the curriculum
of her predecessor, 'Tainting on Velvet," $9.00; and music on
Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.
Mrs. Boardman was a woman of pleasing personality who
was always gowned in white and who **had two clean dresses
every week." Her art classes were especially popular. "Paint-
ing on velvet" was an expensive accomplishment, but water
colors were within the means of all the pupils. Flower paint-
ing was a specialty; and Mrs. Boardman was, doubtless, the
originator of that long line of perpetual, ever-blooming, never-
fading, pink-and-green moss-rosebuds which are still preserved
in their pristine freshness in many of the old houses in
Hallowell.
The pupils in Mrs. Boardman 's school, not at all behind
the progressive young people of to-day, organized an art club,
which is delightfully described by Miss Sallucia Abbott:
"There were a dozen or more of us who all attended Mrs.
Boardman's school for Young Misses, so that we were all
friends and schoolmates together. There were Mary and
Lucia, Louisa and Julia, Lucy and Caroline, Mary Jane,
Emeline and myself, and perhaps some others that I do not now
recollect. The little girl, at whose house we met, generally had
the use of her mother's parlor for the occasion. We had no
officers, and no form about our association. We sat around the
table in the seats we chanced to take when we came in, and
talked together pleasantly while we worked. Mary and Lucia
were a little older than the rest of us, and were better acquaint-
ed with the art; and we naturally went to them for assistance in
all difficult parts; so that they were in reality our teachers; and
the benefit that we derived from these meetings was in a great
measure derived from them. Thus we spent two hours in
Miss Polly Salisbury s School
221
drawing and painting landscapes and flowers, and all sorts of
things, chatting together, admiring each other's work, and ask-
ing each other's advice, and having, as the children say, an
'excellent time,' — [forgive us, dear Aunt Sallucia, but did they
really say an "excellent" time?] — and at four o'clock the port-
folios were refilled, and we all resorted to the yards and gardens
for a run among the flowers. At five o'clock we were all
wending our way home to take tea with our parents."
This story, in The Alcove, is of especial interest because we
know that the nice little girls therein mentioned were real little
girls who truly lived in Hallowell, and had the painting parties
at their very own houses. We know too what their real names
were, for have not our mothers told us t — that is, all but that of
"Mary Jane." "Mary" was Mary Perley, daughter of Squire
Perley, and afterwards, Mrs. William Lane; "Lucia" was Lucia
Brown; "Louisa" was Louisa Perley, afterwards Mrs. John
Dumont; "Julia" was Julia Page, daughter of Dr. Benjamin
Page; "Lucy" was Lucy Dummer, who married Samuel K.
Kilman; "Emeline" was Emeline Page, daughter of John O.
Page, who married Wilmot Wood of Wiscasset; "myself," who,
in the words of the writer, ends the list, was "Aunt Sallucia
Abbott." But— who was "Mary Jane.?"
Another notable dame school was that taught by Miss
Polly Salisbury. Miss Polly reigned about the year of Our Lord
1835. Under her regime several innovations were introduced
into the dame school. Miss Polly believed in co-education, and
took boys as well as girls for pupils. She was a strict dis-
ciplinarian and some of her punishments were original and
very efficacious. In addition to the fool's cap and the dunce's
stool, Miss Polly had what she called the "tattle-rag." This
was a rectangular piece of cloth, made of stripes of different
colors, which was pinned to the back of those ^hildren who told
tales of their fellow pupils. /
Miss Polly is remembered as a sweet and cheery little
woman, very bright and quick at repartee. Her career as a
teacher terminated with her marriage to Samuel Page, Esq., of
Wiscasset, in 1840. After Miss Polly's day, numerous other
juvenile schools flourished. One of the most notable was that
222
Old Hallowell 07i the Kennebec
of Miss Bergen who is said to have been "a hving illustration
of manners."
The private school for young ladies in Hallowell reached
the height of its development and usefulness in the "Female
Academy" founded by the Rev. John Apthorp Vaughan. This
model school for girls was an institution far in advance of its
time. It was conducted by a man of liberal education, inher-
ited culture, and most impressive character; and it speedily
acquired a wide reputation. The school was located on Central
Street in a new edifice described, in a contemporary journal, as
*'a spacious, convenient building of truly classic architecture,"
and was furnished with all the best educational appliances of
the day.
Mr. Vaughan was assisted in the school by Miss Mary
Merrick, who taught the younger children, and who was greatly
beloved and admired by all the students. Miss Merrick, as we
are told by an old lady who had been a member of the school,
was accustomed, on summer afternoons, to return to her
classes, in fresh and dainty attire, with ribbons and slippers of
a color that matched her gown. This artistic touch in Miss
Merrick's costume made a great impression on the minds of her
adoring pupils.
The Vaughan School was patronized by the best families
of Hallowell, and many young ladies came from other towns to
enjoy the educational advantages here afforded. A few of
these pupils were received into the Vaughan household where
much attention was paid to their physical, mental, and moral
development.
Four, at least, of the students of the old Vaughan
Academy are now living. They are Mrs. Caroline F. Dole of
Norridgewock, Mrs. Emeline L. Percival of Cambridge, Miss
EHzabeth Clark of Waltham, and Mrs. De La Croix of Oxford,
North Carolina; and in letters recently written, they all
testify to the superior methods of instruction, and to the re-
fining and elevating influences of this famous and long-remem-
bered school.
The Vaughan Female Academy
223
From those letters, I have been able to learn the names of
a number of the pupils who attended Mr. Vaughan's Academy
in 1 83 1 and 1832. They were: Caroline Fletcher (Mrs.
Nathan Dole), Susan F. Preston (Mrs. M. Clapp), and
Sarah Selden (Mrs. McCobb), from Norridgewock; Isabella
Williams (Mrs. Frederic Freeman), Elizabeth Williams (Mrs.
Judge Redington), Lucy Williams (Mrs. William Woart),
Elizabeth T. Tappan (Mrs. Edwin B. Webb), Caroline Potter
(Mrs. Stephen Deering), Augusta Vose (Mrs. Jacob W. Mc.
Maine), Ellen Emmons, and Jane Tappan, from Augusta;
Ellen Evans (Mrs. Lally) from Gardiner; Sarah Sherman
and Rebecca Ford from Newcastle. The list of Hallowell
pupils, which is very incomplete, gives the names of Charlotte
Sewall(Mrs. Eastman), Joanna Sewall(Mrs. Lemont), Charlotte
Wales (Mrs. Frederick Allen), Caroline Gardiner (Mrs. Hatha-
way), Mary Wingate (Mrs. William Nason), Sarah W. Wales,
Emeline Davis, (Mrs. Warren Percival), Eliza Pollard, Ellen
Ladd, Annie Dole (Mrs. Titcomb), of Alemada, California;
Isadore Allen and sister, Hannah, Anna, and Mary Dole,
— the latter, Mrs. De La Croix, of Oxford, North Carolina.
In his system of teaching, Mr. Vaughan was original and
most successful. Globes and maps were used, and object
lessons made the studies easy and interesting for the younger
pupils. Much attention was given to history and literature,
and the subjects were presented in a broad way and not in the
mere text-book style. There was also a good deal of written
work, and spelling and dictation exercises were frequent. In
later years, when modern methods and new ideas in teaching
were mentioned, Mrs. Charlotte Allen would often say, ''We
used to do that at Mr. Vaughan's school."
Mrs. De La Croix, now an old lady over eighty years of
age, vividly recalls her childish impressions of this old school
and the instances of moral suasion by whicH the pupils were
governed. ''There was never a punishment," she writes.
"There were two sessions, and all stood up by their desks the
last thing at night. Those who had not made any communi-
cations could sit down. He (Mr. Vaughan) looked at each one
as they stood, more or less saddened, and his face expressed his
224
Old Hallowell on the Ken7iebec
feelings ; and every one of us regretted our failings and men-
tally decided to be more careful not to grieve him. . . Mr.
Vaughan had two minutes recess every half hour. A clock
stood in plain sight and we all knew that when the little bell
rang we could leave our seats and talk and exchange books.
Communications were unnecessary. "
Mrs. Caroline Fletcher Dole, one of the older scholars in
the school, boarded in Mr. Vaughan's family, and thus had an
opportunity to acquire a discerning and appreciative insight in-
to the character of her teacher. She still speaks vv^ith the
warmest affection of Mr. Vaughan, who was beloved and re-
vered by all of his pupils, and especially of the moral influence
of the school. ''Dr. Vaughan, " writes Mrs. Dole," "had the
spiritual welfare of his scholars very much at heart and sought
to influence them to lead a religious life. He had daily prayers
in the home, and a short devotional exercise every morning in
opening the school for the day." On the last day of the clos-
ing term of the school, the morning reading, by a chance and
touching coincidence, was the 20th chapter of Acts, in which
Paul makes a parting address to the elders of the church. The
students were deeply impressed and much affected by the
closing verse: ''Sorrowing most of all for the words which he
spake, that they should see his face no more."
In December, 1832, Mr. Vaughan, much to the regret of
pupils, parents, and the whole community at Hallowell, closed
his school, after its short but potent existence of two years. He
soon afterwards became rector of the Church of the Mediator in
Philadelphia. Twenty-two years later, on August 11, 1854, the
pupils of the Hallowell Female Academy held a reunion at
Hallowell and tendered a reception to Mr. Vaughan. A
felicitous address was made on this occasion by the Rev.
Daniel R. Goodwin; and a silver goblet was presented to the
Rev. John A. Vaughan, D. D., by the pupils of the Hallowell
Female Academy, "as a tribute of regard for their former
teacher."
One of the first acts of the newly organized town govern-
ment of Hallowell, in the year 1797, was the appropriation of
The First Town School
225
five hundred dollars for ^'schooling." The fathers had evidently
not forgotten the injunction laid upon them by the Rev. William
Hazlitt, in his Thanksgiving sermon: "You should teach your
children to read before you teach them to work!" and, although
the Academy was well established at this time, the town did
not neglect to provide for its public schools.
The first town school of which we have record was kept in
an old one-story building on Clark's lane, opposite Deacon
Gow's house. A better and more commodious house was soon
secured on Second Street, opposite the meeting-house. This
building was known for many years as the Old South school-
house.
One of the old residents of Hallowell, under the name of
"Senex," writes: 'Tt was an eventful day when we changed
the old for the new school-house. Headed by the master, we
formed two by two in solemn cavalcade, with our books under
our arms to take possession of the new seminary. We had not
much to carry, it is true. Our reading books then consisted,
according to advancement in the class, of three volumes, to wit,
The New England Primer, Webster's Spelling Book, and the
New Testament. Probably you hardly know now in your
primary schools what the New England Primer means. We
knew it well, and it was the business of Master Haskell to see
that on Saturday afternoon we said our Catechism. Old Parson
Gillet also examined the pupils in his frequent visits to the
school and heard them recite:
Tn Adam's fall
We sinned all.'
"Uncle John Sewall taught after Master Haskell. He was
not a very learned man. He taught the thrqe R's — Readin',
Ritin', and 'Rithmetic — pretty well, and suff^ered the reading
of Morse's Geography. But he was a stranger to Grammar."
A much more learned man than "Uncle John," was Master
Samuel Locke. He has been characterized as an "old-fashioned
iron schoolmaster," who was "celebrated for breaking in incor-
rigibles;" and yet it is said that he was "neither cruel nor
226
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
unjust in the treatment of his scholars." Master Locke was a
fine mathematician and an excellent teacher of navigation.
Many of the Hallowell boys who became famous sea-captains
received their elementary instruction in Master Locke's classes.
This old-time pedagogue was undoubtedly a man of high
attainments and, as a citizen, he was much respected.
Prior to 1840, there were only two public schools in
Hallowell, one in the Old South school-house, and the other
in the brick school-house on Middle Street. Master Locke
taught in the brick school-house, and the other school was for
the children. As the Hallowell Academy and other private
schools were patronized by many of the families in the town,
the necessity of advanced public schools was not fully recog-
nized until about 1 840, when an attempt was made to grade and
improve the town schools. In this year the inhabitants,
assembled in a "district meeting," voted to increase the school
appropriation to $3000; and to erect a new double brick build-
ing in the place of the old one, at a cost af ;^I200. The meas-
ures at this time provided for a High school, a Grammar school,
and the necessary primaries.
Mr. Baker states that many excellent instructors have been
employed in the Hallowell schools. In the girl's Grammar
school, Sarah R. Parke "carried away the palm as an instructress
who could not be excelled." Other successful teachers who
were beloved by many successive classes of pupils were Caroline
Yeaton, Caroline A. Perley, Elizabeth D. Pillsbury, Caroline A.
Page (Mrs. Freeman), Ruth H. Nickerson (Mrs. Plaisted),
Fannie L. Nye, and S. Louisa Gilman. "In the boy's Grammar
school," writes Mr. Baker, "D. H. Goodno was a superior
teacher and disciplinarian. Albert Thomas was very successful ;
and J. B. Brackett incited his pupils to very faithful and profit-
able study." The three most noteworthy instructors in the
High School were, without question, Mr. Jonas Burnham, Mr.
W. H. Seavey, and Mr. Alfred E. Buck.
Mr. Jonas Burnham was ably equipped for his work and
entered upon the task of organizing and maintaining the new
High school, with great enthusiasm. His efforts were crowned
with great success; and at the annual examinations of the
The Hallowell High School
227
school, some of his pupils showed remarkable proficiency in
their studies. When it was announced to the public that Mr.
Burnham had resigned his position as teacher of the Hallowell
High School to go to another field of labor, there was a very
general and sincere expression of regret from the pupils
and friends of the school. The "big boys" were openly rebel-
lious; and with that perverted sense of justice, often observed
at such times, they vowed to "make things lively" for the next
teacher. Very fortunately for the school and for Hallowell, the
next teacher was Mr. W. N. Seavey. For the first few days after
his arrival, the boys spared no effort to make matters uncom-
fortable for Mr. Seavey; but gradually, imperceptibly, nobody
exactly knew how, the atmosphere cleared, and before the first
week of the term had ended, every boy and girl was the loyal
supporter of the new master. Mr. Seavey's success and popu-
larity were at once established, and were maintained until his
resignation. He afterwards attained celebrity in the schools
of Boston.
A third teacher whose name and fame are a lasting honor
to the records of the Hallowell High School was Mr. Alfred E.
Buck. As a young man, and soon after his graduation from
Waterville College, Mr. Buck came to Hallowell, and by his
force and sincerity of character, and his thorough scholarship,
he won the respect and devoted allegiance of his pupils. His
term of service as a teacher in the Hallowell High School was
remarkable for its success; and the friendship formed between
Mr. Buck and his pupils was loyal and enduring.
At the beginning of the Civil War, Mr. Buck entered the
Union army as Captain of Company C, Thirtieth Maine
Volunteers. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he
led his command in the assault upon Fort Blakely, Alabama,
and was brevetted Colonel for his gallant Conduct at the
capture of that fortress. At the close of tlie war, Colonel
Buck settled at the south. He was elected a member of the
Constitutional Convention of Alabama, was a Presidential
Elector for that state when Grant was elected President, and a
member of Congress from 1869 to 1871. He removed to
Atlanta, Georgia, in 1873, and was at the head of the Republican
228
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
party in that state for eighteen years. He was Marshal of
the United States for Georgia during the administration of
Harrison; and was a delegate to five Republican National Con-
ventions. He was also connected with many industries for
developing the coal and iron resources of Alabama and
Georgia, and was an important factor in the growth of the New
South.
In April, 1897, Colonel Buck was appointed United States
Minister to Japan, by President McKinley, and served most
successfully and acceptably until his death, which occurred in
Tokyo, December 4, 1902. Many tributes to his official ability
and success as minister at the court of Japan appeared, at the
time of his death, in the Japanese and American press. He
carried to his office a ripe knowledge of American politics, a
keen insight into national affairs, and great administrative
ability. While in Tokyo, he won the highest respect and
esteem, and received marked recognition at the Japanese court.
His term of service as United States minister was one of dis-
tinction to himself and of honor to his country. He was a man,
morally and mentally, of a large mould, and had within
himself the elements of greatness. He lies buried, as he
wished, in the cemetery at Arlington, with the nation's hon-
ored dead.
As we reach the close of our chapter, the stories of the old
Hallowell Academy and of the Hallowell High School, by an
unanticipated transition, merge into one. In 1873, both of
these schools were united with the new Classical School. In
1885, after the discontinuance of the Classical School, the
High School was reopened, and established in the old Acad-
emy building; and thus, this time-honored structure as re-
modeled by the city fathers, remains today, a monument of
the early and never-failing purpose of Hallowell to liberally
educate her sons and daughters.
XIV
THE LIBRARIES OF HALLOWELL
''Here is that *etherial and fifth essence, the breath of reason
itself, the seasoned life of men, preserved and stored up in books.' "
— Rev. Henry V. Bmmons.
EXT to the schools of a town, in the influences that
develop the character, educate the mind, and perfect
the intellectual and moral culture of the people, stand
its private and public libraries. To every town or
city, the schools are the absolutely essential source of intel-
ligence, prosperity, and happiness in the community; but, from
the libraries, emanate that subtle force and influence that
perfect the work of the school, by expanding its budding
growth into the blossom and fruitage of intellectual culture.
Old Hallowell had the happy fate of having its schools, which
were founded at the close of the eighteenth century, immedi-
ately supplemented by most excellent private and public
libraries.
Among the early settlers at the Hook, there were not a
few families, like the Merricks, the Pages, the Dummers, the
Sheppards, and others, that brought with them a very excellent
collection, of goodly books; but upon the Vaughan library,
Hallowell bases its claim of having within its limits, at the
opening of the nineteenth century, the largest and most
valuable library in New England, with the exception of that of
Harvard College.
The owner of this library. Dr. Benjamin Vaughan, who
came to Hallowell in 1797, was one of the most scholarly and
cultured men of his time. The books in his Jibrary had been
collected, with rare discrimination, from the publications of
England, France, Switzerland, Germany, and America. In
this library there were ten thousand volumes. The walls of the
Vaughan mansion were literally lined with books. Moreover,
Dr. Vaughan was not only an ardent lover but a generous
230
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
lender of good literature. His bookshelves, which were
especially rich in classic and scientific works, were always open
for reference to the student; and thus the whole community
was enriched by the wealth of the Vaughan library.
But it was not only the mature student, and the men and
women of the town, that were welcome to the use of these
interesting and valuable books. The children of Old Hal-
lowell were equally indebted to the Vaughan library, one
department of which was filled with the best books for young
people that could be procured at this time. Every Saturday
afternoon, this library was opened, and the books were freely
loaned to the boys and girls who came for them. The value of
these books to the children of Hallowell cannot be overesti-
mated. Of this home library, and of the gracious hostess who
here dispensed the best gifts of classic and story-book lore to
the favored children of this olden time, Mr. John S. C. Abbott
writes as follows:
"Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Vaughan, whose names I can
never speak but with the most profound emotions of reverence
and affection, opened their spacious library every week to the
children of the village. It contained, among its other literary
treasures, as choice a collection of juvenile books as money
could then afford. Every Saturday afternoon the children
were accustomed to cluster on the piazza of the spacious
mansion to exchange these well-read volumes. One good
mother in Hallowell, whose five sons imbibed from this
library such tastes that they all passed through Bowdoin Col-
lege and Andover Theological Seminary, said to one of them :
*You children will never be able to appreciate the debt of
gratitude you owe to the Vaughan family. '
"Mrs. Vaughan," adds Mr. Abbott, "was a very lovely
woman full of vivacity and activity, with a face beaming with
intelligence. I can now see her questioning the children as to
what they had read, and, with her slight and fragile form, nimbly
ascending the library steps and selecting such a book as she
thought best adapted to the capacity of the child. Sixty years
of this stormy life have passed away, and I can yet recall
the intensity of pleasurable emotion with which those precious
The Otis Library
231
volumes were read during the long evenings of a Maine winter.
The influence of this library upon that little community was
very remarkable; so much so that in the social gatherings
of the children which were frequent, and which always broke up
when the nine o'clock bell rang, one of their principal joys was
to entertain each other with the recital of original stories, made
up extempore wpon the occasion."
Another very remarkable private library in Hallowell was
that of the Hon. John Otis. Throughout his life, Mr. Otis
was a student and lover of good literature. He was a collector of
rare and valuable old books, and his library contained hundreds of
volumes of interest to the antiquarian student. Some of these
books, that probably could not have been obtained elsewhere in
this country, were purchased at the sale of the library of Mr.
Samuel Vaughan of London. There were, in Mr. Otis' collection,
about a thousand books and pamphlets published prior to 1800.
These were works on history, travel, biography, science, politics,
philosophy, poetry and belles-lettres. Upon his book shelves
were the old Greek and Latin authors, in the original, and in
modern translations. There were also translations from the
Persian, Arabic, German, French, and Italian. The works of
the English historians and poets were represented in fine
editions. There were essays and sermons innumerable, and
tracts upon all subjects from the ^'Antiquity of Scandal and
Birthday of Folly," to the most abstruse treatises on theologi-
cal and political polemics, and Plain Truths and Remarks on
Common Sense." To emphasize the importance of the state-
ment in regard to the rareness and value of these old volumes,
the titles and date of publication of some of them are here given.
The oldest book in the library bore the date of 1492. This
book was the Herodias Epistolae^ by the Laljin poet Publius
Ovidius Naso, whom we commonly called Ovid. A worthy
and venerable companion to this ancient volume was a book by
Diogenes Laertius, entitled The Lives of the Philosophers.
This was a beautiful well-preserved folio, printed on vellum, in
1493. These two books alone would give distinction to any
library, public or private, in our country.
232
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
The century from 1500 to 1600 was represented by twelve
valuable volumes; the century from 1600 to 1700 by one
hundred and ten volumes ; the century from 1700 to 1800, by
six hundred and seventy-five volumes. The library therefore
contained over eight hundred books besides numerous pam-
phlets, published prior to 1800.
Notable among the books printed between 1500 and 1600
were:
Quintiliani. De Institutione. 15 14.
Ovidii Epistole, cum Comment, Calderini et Badio. Black
Letter. Curious Wood cuts. Folio Calf. Lugduni. 1523.
(This is a very rare volume.)
Homeri Ilias et Ulyssea cum Interpretatione . Folio . 1535.
(A very fine rare copy.)
Sententae Veterum Poetarum per Georgium Maiorum.
1551.
P. Ovidii Nasonis. Metamorphoses. (In Latin.) 1568.
Ptolomaei Geographiae, per C. Mercator. 1584. (Fine
ancient maps. Very rare.)
The Mirrour of Policie. A Work no less profitable than
necessarie, for all Magistrates and Governors of Estates and
Commonweales. 1590. (Rare.)
The Historie of the Warres of Italie and Other Partes.
Translated by Geffray Fenton. By F. Guicciardini. 1599.
Among the books printed between 1600 and 1700, the
oldest was A Generall Historie of the Netherlands, with Genea-
logic and Memorable Acts of the Earls of Holland, Zeeland and
West Friesland. This was a magnificently illustrated Folio,
issued in 1608. Other books of this century were : Montaigne's
Essays, *'done into English" by John Florio, London, 1613;
Histoire des Martyrs, Geneva, 16 19; Purchase. His Pilgrim es
contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Land
Travells by Englishmen and Others; (a very rare work in four
volumes published in 1625-6); The Painting of the Ancients, by
Franciscus, Jr., London, 1633; Military Essayes of the Ancient
Grecian, Roman, and Modern Art of War, by Sir James
Turner, London, 1633; and The Historie of the World
C. Pliny, Translated by Philemon Holland, 1634.
The Otis Library
233
One very rare and curious work was that by Sir John
Finette, (Master of Ceremonies), entitled Some Choice Observa-
tions touching the Reception and Precedence, the T^^eatment and
Audie7ice, the Punctillios and Contests of Foreign Ambassador's
in England, 1656.
Two valuable and interesting histories were the Chronicles
of the Kings of England, by Sir Richard Baker, 1674; and a
very rare work, entitled The Account of the Pretended Prince of
Wales and other Grievances that occasioned the Invitation of
the Prince of Orange, with other papers relating to the Revolu-
tion, 1688. Another highly prized book was Meditationes de
Prima de Philosophia, by Descartes, Elzivir, Amsterdam, 1678.
These are but a few of a collection of over one hundred
books printed in the seventeenth century. Among the books
of the eighteenth century it is more difficult to make a repre-
sentative selection. This collection included many fine and
richly illustrated volumes on history, travel, poetry, and philos-
ophy. Some of the oldest were Malabranch's Search After
Truth, 1700; Dryden's Poems and Translations, 1701; The
Glory of Queen Anne, 1703. There was also the Peerage of
England, in eight volumes, by Arthur Collins, 1779; and that
very rare and interesting folio, A Display of Heraldrie, by John
Guyllym, probably the edition of 1724. Two other books that
appeal very strongly to us at the present day, were The Generall
Historic of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles^ by
Capt. John Smith, 1629, (a reprint); and a rare edition of
Robert Beverely's History of Virginia in Four Parts, printed
in 1705. Other miscellaneous but interesting books were the
famous Junius Letters, 1772; The Freethinker; Essays in Wit
and Humor, 1740; E. Burke on the Sublime and Beautiful, 1757;
Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs and Heroic Ballads, 1776',
The Acts and Deeds of the Most Famous Valliant Champion,
Sir William Wallace, written by blind I^arry, a Scottish
minstrel who died about 1492; apd a quaint copy of Luther's
German Bible. The > English poets were represented in hand-
some editions, and the books of the nineteenth century were
too numerous to mention.
I well remember this library and the impression which this
234
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
seemingly vast collection of books always produced upon my
childish mind. Many of the books were kept in alcoves in the
hall where the book shelves were built into the wall. No
marvel of modern architecture which it has since been my lot to
behold, has ever inspired such a sense of rapturous awe as I
always felt on entering this fine old hall with its glass-covered
book-cases, its arched doorways, and its wonderful winding
stairway which seemed to swing itself upward by some marvel-
ous but invisible means to enchanted regions above.
Mr. Otis died in 1856; and after his death this valuable
library was preserved intact, at the Grant mansion, until the
year 1878. It was then sold at auction in Boston and nearly all
of its rare folios, books, pamphlets, etc., were scattered among
libraries and book-collectors that were only too eager to secure
them. The handsomely illustrated Historic of the Netherlands
is now in the Boston Art Museum where it is frequently con-
sulted by the students of art and history. Happily a few of the
most valuable volumes are still in the possession of the Otis
family. One of these, printed in 1747, is entitled The Heads
of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain; and as we turn the
leaves of this beautiful folio, enriched with full page engravings
by Houbraken and Vertue, we realize as never before the loss
of the hundreds of rare volumes which might, perhaps, have
been preserved for the old town of Hallowell. The books were
offered for sale, but the opportunity passed unheeded. This is
one of those oversights which seem unaccountable in the
retrospect; but no one among us apparently realized what a
treasure was passing from our grasp, or that the opportunity of
acquiring such a collection of rare old books would never come
to us again. It is with infinite and unassuaged regret that
we now think of the loss of these ancient volumes that would
have been of inestimable value to the Hubbard Free Library,
and a fitting monument of the time when Hallowell rightfully
bore the honor of being "the most intellectual and literary
town in Maine."
In those earlier days several of the literary societies of Hal-
lowell also possessed collections of books. The Kennebec
The Goodale Library
235
Library Society and the Young Men's Society, which was
a literary and debating club, are still represented by a number
of volumes now preserved upon the shelves of the Hubbard
Free Library.
The Franklin Debating Society also had a small but
well-selected library. This society was composed of representa-
tive young men of Hallowell who took themselves and their
talents more seriously than do many young men of the present
time, and who endeavored to make the most of such gifts as
they possessed. The members of the society met in the upper
room of the Old South school-house. They wrote essays,
declaimed the speeches of great statesmen, and debated ques-
tions of civic, national, historic, and theological importance. A
record of the meetings, in the handwriting of one of its principal
members, Henry Knox Baker, is preserved in the Hubbard
Free Library, with a number of books bearing the label of the
Franklin Debating Society.
In addition to these libraries, large and small, there was also
in Hallowell, in the olden days, a very excellent circulating
library, founded by Ezekiel Goodale, printer and bookseller.
"Uncle Zekiel," as this early benefactor of the town was
called, saw the necessity of a good library easily accessible to
the general public, and, with a commendable spirit, immediately
founded one. As his business placed him in touch with
the English market, Mr. Goodale imported many of the new
and standard books as soon as they were issued by the English
publishing houses. From small beginnings, the Hallowell Cir-
culating Library grew to a large and valuable collection. Upon
its shelves were found the Spectator, the Rambler, Shakespeare,
Milton, the novels of Fielding and Smollet, and Richardson's
Pamela. To these, were soon added the works of Scott,
Byron, Moore, Campbell, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lamb,
Shelley, and of many other authors then ne/v to the reading
world. All these were placed by a book-loving dealer in the
hands of an intelligent circle of readers. In 1820, according to
the attractive catalogue still extant, this old library offered to
its patrons "novels, romances, plays, biography, history,
voyages, travels, poems, miscellaneous reviews, and periodi-
236
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
cals;" and among the latter, were the London Monthly Maga-
zine^ the Atheneum, the Edinburgh Review^ Quarterly
Review, and the American Review of History and Politics. It
was said of Ezekiel Goodale, the founder of this hbrary, that he
was not a Hterary man himself but was **the cause of literature
in others."
The Hallowell Social Library, which still exists under
the name of the Hubbard Free Library, was established in 1842.
Among its most prominent founders were Dr. Amos Nourse,
Rev. Jonathan Cole, and Mr. Thomas B. Brooks. This library
consisted in the beginning of five hundred and twenty-nine
well-selected volumes purchased by the shareholders. These
books were, for twelve years, hospitably housed, free of rent,
in a large room on the second floor of the store of Mr. Brooks,
on the corner of Winthrop and Water Streets. The early
patrons of this library will recall its entrance which had an iron
door opening upon a Venetian-like balcony, from which an airy
flight of stairs descended to the street below.
The first officers of the Hallowell Social Library Associa-
tion were: Andrew M.2LSttrs, president ; Jonathan Cole, Samuel
Wells, Thomas B. Brooks, Franklin Scammon, Justin E.
Smith, directors; Edward K. Butler, treasurer; Henry K.
Baker, secretary and librarian. The services of those who
successively held the office of librarian were gratuitously given;
and grateful acknowledgments are due from the residents of
Hallowell to the men and women who so generously gave
their time, thought, and disinterested efforts to this beneficent
work. The list of librarians of the Hallowell Social Library is
on record as follows: Hon. H. K. Baker, Mr. T. B. Brooks,
Mr. J. C. Dwight, E. K. Butler, Esq., Mr. T. W. Newman,
Miss Lucy M. Emmons, Dr. M. C. Richardson, Dr. J. De Wolfe
Smith, Miss Annie F. Page, and Miss Sophie B. Gilman and
Miss Abbie Eveleth, assistant librarians.
In 1858, the library received the donation of a collection of
rare and valuable books from the library of Mr. John Merrick,
and another accession to its shelves from the library of Mr.
George Merrick.
In 1 86 1, a store and lot on Water Street valued at |^i6oo.
The Hallowell Social Library
237
was presented to the library by Mr. Charles Vaughan of
Cambridge. This gift was accompanied by a cordial letter,
closing as follows :
If you should accept the enclosed deed, I shall be happy to think
I have done something for the benefit of an institution calculated, if
properly managed, to do much good, and be an honor to my native
place, which still has my best affections.
I am
Your obt. servant,
CHAS. VAUGHAN."
The hopes and expectations of Mr. Charles Vaughan,
whose gift first placed the library upon a practical financial
basis, were abundantly realized. It soon became necessary to
have a permanent and suitable building for the library; and the
first effectual movement to this end is due to the women of
Hallowell who, in the summer of 1868, met at the home of Mrs.
Simon Page, and appointed two secretaries, Miss Emma G.
Hubbard and Miss Annie F. Page, to solicit funds for the pur-
chase of a lot, and for the subsequent erection of an ideal
library building. In 1878, the "Library Building Association"
was formed. Its officers were: Mrs. J. De Wolfe Smith,
president; Miss Mary E. Moody, treasurer; Miss Annie F.
Page, secretary; Mrs. H. F. Harding, Miss Emma G. Hubbard,
Miss Harriet Morgridge, Miss Sophie B. Gilman, Miss Lucy
M. Emmons, executive committee.
Through the efforts of these public-spirited women of
Hallowell the enterprise, so courageously undertaken, was
carried out to complete success. In 1880, a beautiful stone
building, the cumulative gift of the sons and daughters of Old
Hallowell to the mother town, was erected on Second Street.
The granite of which this edifice was constructed was quarried
from the Hallowell hills, and was the gift of Governor J. R.
Bodwell, the large-hearted, widely-beloved president of the
Hallowell Granite Company. The iron cresting was generously
donated by the Fuller Brothers of Hallowell. The architectural
plan for the library was designed and presented to the commit-
tee by Mr. A. C. Currier, as a tribute to his native town; and
238
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
the funds for the erection of the building were contributed by
the residents and former residents of Hallowell. When all
completed, the beautiful Gothic edifice stood, like a temple of
old, lifting its portals to the east ; and the ladies of the Library
Building Association had the supreme pleasure of committing
its keys to the officers of the Hallowell Social Library.
On the 9th of March, 1880, this library was publicly ded-
icated to the great and noble purpose for which it was designed.
On this occasion an oration was delivered by the Rev. Henry
V. Emmons, and an original poem was read by Mrs. Emma
Huntington Nason. All of the other parts of the programme
were likewise contributed by loyal sons and daughters of
Hallowell, in harmony with the general plan of the building and
presentation committee.
Thus this library, in the words of the Rev. Henry V.
Emmons, the orator of the day, was ''dedicated to the honor of
the living and the memory of the dead, among its donors and
promoters; to the perpetuation of the memory of our- fathers;
to the adding of comfort and culture to our homes; to the
unfolding of the minds and the refinement of the tastes of our
children; to the elevation of our aims and our manners; to the
advancement of learning and liberality and loyalty; to the
common welfare among our citizens; to the spread of truth and
the correction of error; to the inculcation of candor, fidelity,
proberty, and veracity, and the promotion of liberty, patriotism,
and piety." Well has this library fulfilled its mission; and that
it has done so, has been, in a great measure due to the fidelity,
enthusiasm, and literary discrimination of its librarians, Miss
Annie F. Page and Miss Sophie B, Gilman, who for more than
a quarter of a century, with a devotion akin to that of priest-
esses at a shrine, have stood at this altar of learning, and
guided both young and old into its inner sanctuary.
In 1893, the library was enlarged through the liberal
endowment of ;^ 20,000, from General Thomas H. Hubbard, an
honored son of Hallowell; and the free library and reading
room was thus established. The building was re-dedicated on
March 15, 1894. At this time an able and eloquent address, on
''The Place and Work of the Public Library," was delivered by
i
Gene:rai, Thomas H. Hubbard
The Hubbard Free Library
239
Professor Charles F. Richardson, who paid, during his discourse,
a loyal tribute to the treasure-store of books with which he was
familiar in his boyhood. A beautiful and suggestive poem,
written by a gifted daughter of Hallowell, Mrs. Martha Baker
Dunn, was read by Mr. Walter F. Marston. One stanza of this
poem might well be engraved upon the portals of this library:
" Then enter here with reverent tread,
Here bare the brow, uplift the eye,
Do homage to the deathless dead, —
Within these walls they never die."
To the donor of this munificent gift to the library, to him
who thus made the desires of the people a reality in enduring
stone, words of acknowledgment must ever be inadequate; but
as a perpetual expression of the gratitude of the citizens of
Hallowell for this benefaction to themselves, their children, and
their children's children, and in memory of the Hubbard family,
this library was named, in 1894, the Hubbard Free Library.
In 1897, the library received an endowment of $10,000,
which was expended in adding a west wing to the building.
This liberal benefaction was the gift of Mrs. Eliza Clark Lowell,
a direct descendant of Deacon Pease Clark, the first settler of
Hallowell.
When the west wing, now designated as the "Lowell
Museum," was completed in 1898, and the building was opened,
for the third time, to the public, with dedicatory exercises.
Mrs. Lowell, at the age of ninety-four years, had the pleasure of
being present to receive the grateful acknowledgments of the
friends and patrons of the library. The address for this occa-
sion on "Libraries and Their Uses," was written by the vener-
able Judge Henry K. Baker. The poem, by Miss Ellen Hamlin
Butler, entitled ''The Creating of the ^^7<?>^,"^ presented a beau-
tiful conception of the development of the mental growth of the
human race, from which one learned how humanity was first
taught to live^ then to sing, and then to write, and at last to
read. The poem closed with the following invocation to the
"fortunate children of these last days:"
240
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
* ' Oh friends,
This is a story that never ends
The story! Ah no, face to face are we
With quickening immortality.
These arches for our communion keep
The heart of Dante, passionate deep,
The voice of Taliesin breaking its bars.
The speech of Homer like marching stars,
The mind of Plato married to truth.
The soul of Christ in its matchless youth !
And if ye will muse a little space
In the holy silence that fills this place,
Ye shall lift your eyes, and — every one —
Behold the message spelled by the sun,
The spirit's message told, yet once more,
In the fair rose -window over the door :
HK knows the secret Oif TIME, INDEED,
Who seeking the i.ight, comes hither to read."
And so the history of this library is not like "a tale that is told,"
but rather like an accumulative story filled with pleasant hap-
penings, and records of constant benefactions from its friends.
The library has been frequently remembered with gifts of books,
pictures, portraits, busts, valuable curios, and donations of
money for special purposes. In 1887, the library received, by
the will of Mrs. Almira C. Dummer, a bequest of $500, together
with a large number of books. Among these timely gifts, there
also came, one day, a check for $800, from a "Stranger." The
donor long remained unknown, but it was at last ascertained
that this beneficent ''Stranger" was Mr. Henry Sampson of
New York. Several very interesting and valuable contributions
to the collection of antique curiosities and works of art in the
"Lowell Museum" have been donated by Mr. Everett T.
Getchell.
In 1898, the children of Judge Henry K. Baker gave to
the library a valuable collection of one hundred volumes; and,
at the same time, presented a marble bust of their father,
in whose memory the books were given. This life-like bust of
Judge Baker is the work of the Sculptor Mahoney. A portrait
of Judge Baker, painted by Scott Clifton Carbee, hangs above
the case of books. These gifts form a fitting memorial of one
The Hubbard Free Library
241
who throughout his long Ufe was devotedly interested in the
work of the library.
A marble bust of Judge Oilman and fine portraits of Mr.
John Merrick, Mr. Thomas B. Merrick, Mr. Charles Vaughan,
Dr. M. C. Richardson, and General Thomas H. Hubbard hold
places of honor in the library.
And thus to-day, the Hubbard Free Library, hewn from
the heart of our own hills, stands thrice consecrated. Its un-
seen, yet all-pervasive forces have permeated the homes,
refined and elevated the minds, enlarged the mental and
spiritual vision, and strengthened and ennobled the character
of all who have gone in and out beneath its portals. Of
the hallowed mission of the books upon its shelves no one can
adequately speak; for —
"Subtle, such influence, and vast!
And he who tells its power for good
Must take his data from the past,
And reckon to infinitude."
"These volumes," said Professor Richardson, at the close
of his dedicatory address, **will outlast us, yet they too will
sometime perish. Some part of their contents, however, it is
sober truth to say, may be made to pass beyond the visible
world when turned into the mental and spiritual life of the
individual, which we believe to be in its nature indestructible.
Of the beautiful building and the excellent library thus
influencing imperishable souls, we may say, in Oliver Wendell
Holmes' stately lines :
'Kniblem and legend may fade from the portal,
Keystone may crumble and pillar may fall,
They were the builders whose work is immortal,
Crowned with the dome that is over us all.' "
/
XV
OLD BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS
"There was inbred among us a love of good letters."
— Rev. Henry V. Emmons.
^^^^ HE literary life of Hallowell began simultaneously with
/ ■ its material existence. If there was ever **a social struc-
ture founded on a book," it was surely in this old town.
It has been truly said that the Hallowell people were a
reading people. There were, however, among them, not only
many readers of books but makers of books. Printers and pub-
lishers abounded among our early settlers ; and a surprisingly
large number of books, pamphlets, and newspapers were issued
from the press of old Hallowell. Over one hundred of these
ancient Hallowell imprints have been collected and placed in
the Hubbard Free Library. The oldest of these is an address
delivered at the dedication of the Hallowell Academy in 1795.
The first book published in Hallowell was a work of
fiction, issued by Howard L. Robinson in 1797, and entitled
Female Friendship, or the Innocent Sufferer: A Moral Novel.
This curious old-fashioned story opens with a retrospective
chapter which contains tragedy enough for a whole novel, and,
in the tale that follows, the misery is so generally diffused
that it is difficult to decide whether ''dearest Emily," or some
other one of the intensely sympathetic characters, is the
"innocent sufferer. " This book was published anonymously,
and the name of the author is unfortunately lost to fame.
In the year 1800, a notable book, entitled the Rtiral
Socrates was given to the public, by Dr. Benjamin Vaughan.
This volume contains an account of "a celebrated philosophical
farmer, named Kilyogg, lately living in Switzerland." The
book was printed by Peter Edes, and "sold by the booksellers
of the principal towns of the United States."
One of the earliest printers and publishers in the town
Old Books and Newspapers
243
was Ezekiel Goodale; and to him is ascribed the honor of
estabUshing the first permanent publishing house in HallowelL
He was the first of a somewhat remarkable succession of
men — a sort of dynasty of printers and publishers — who per-
petuated the business, with the occasional substitution of a
new name in the firm, for over sixty years.
Ezekiel Goodale came to Hallowell in 1802. He first
opened a little shop in the front room of Moses Sewall's
house where he sold spelling-books and a few copies of the
New England Primer. He prospered in business and, in 181 3,
opened a printing establishment, at the ''Sign of the Bible,"
near the foot of Academy Street. In 1806, Mr. Goodale pub-
lished an interesting book entitled The History of the Bible and
the Jews.
This book was originally written in Dutch, from which
language it was translated into English. A copy of the work
was brought to Hallowell by Deacon Gow from Scotland, and
was reprinted by Ezekiel Goodale, at the "Sign of the Bible."
When the volume appeared in print, Crom Aldrich, one of the
local poets, composed this couplet:
**The History of the Bible and the Jews
Is the beautifullest book I ever did peruse."
The book is certainly a work that demands some superla-
tive adjectives. It consists of a series of dialogues, first
between the "Pilgrim" and Adam; then between the "Pilgrim"
and Noah; and afterwards, between the "Pilgrim" and the
Apostle John, and the "Pilgrim" and Melanchthon. In these
dialogues we are permitted to look upon the history of the
world through the eyes of the Patriarchs; and also to discuss,
with the "Pilgrim!" and the Apostle John, the direct dealings
of God with man, and the more abstruse philosophy of the uni-
verse. The conversations with Adam savor somewhat of the
senile garrulity that might be expected of an old man nine
hundred and thirty years of age; but who, as the "Pilgrim"
suggests, "having conversed both with God and man, must
have acquired a large stock of knowledge and experience.'*
His sufferings after leaving Paradise are pathetically related.
244
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
"What troubled me extremely," said Adam, "was that my wife,
who had ever conducted herself with great meekness and
affection, began to be somewhat froward and contradictory,
which gave rise to many discords. Oh, son, — a most distress-
ing subject it is to me to talk of!"
New editions of other religious works followed: Pilgrim's
Progress in 1814, ^ History of Persecution^ 1819; Taylor s
Holy Living, 1820: and Paleys Evidences, in 1826. In the
meantime Murray's Grammar, 181 2, Goldsmith's England,
1 8 14, Arnaud's French Verbs, 1823, Kinne' s Practical Arith-
metic, 1820, and the New Pleasing Spelling Book, 181 8, show
that the educational interests of the young people were not
neglected in the first two decades of the nineteenth century.
The New Pleasing Spelling Book is indeed most pleasingly
arranged. The pages containing the spelling lessons are
printed in double columns, and interspersed with stories and
lively dialogues in which the long hard words all reappear in
most delightful combinations. What child could resist them!
Moral Amusemeftt was also published by Ezekiel Goodale.
This was "A selection from the most approved authors for
the instruction and mental improvement of young ladies and
gentlemen."
Nor did "Uncle Zekiel" forget the children of Hallowell.
In 181 3, he published the Affecting History of the Children in
the Wood, with pathetic illustrations. Happily, however, these
children did not perish at the last, like those whom the robins
buried in the leaves, but were rescued by a good, kind woman,
with whom they lived in "uninterrupted peace" at "Happy
Dell," for the remainder of their lives. This remarkable story
is interspersed with many moral reflections and "pretty
hymns," which "the Babes" learned and often repeated, and
which all good children would do well to commit to memory.
The cover of this old book bears the following inscription
written in a bold clear hand :
Pattey Smiths hur Book of Epping.
We cannot help feeling sorry for Pattey, as we think of the
tears she must have shed over this tragic tale, which, as the
Old Books and Newspapers
245
author avows, is "unsparingly related in every particular."
Our sympathies also go out to that other little girl who was
the possessor of one of Cotton Mather's doleful books, on the
fly-leaf of which she wrote this touching inscription :
Sarah Harriss hur book
god give her Grace therein to Look
& when the Bells for hur Do tole
the Lord of heaven Recijue her Sole
the Roses red the grass is Green
the Days is past which I have seen.'*
Another remarkable book for children was The Sister s
Gift: The Naughty Boy Reformed, "published for the Advan-
tage of the Rising Generation," 1809. The two prominent
characters in this story are Miss Kitty, aged twelve, and Master
Billy, aged eight. Master Billy is a bad boy, a very bad boy
indeed. He ties a tin can to the dog's tail; he throws his
sister's pet kitten out of the window; and does other wicked
and equally unheard-of deeds, all vividly depicted in the illus-
trations which it would seem might be quite suggestive to
other bad boys, if there were any at this period. Mistress
Kitty labors with her wayward brother, as a virtuous elder
sister should; and we are delighted to know, at the close of the
story, that "Master Billy wept bitterly, and declared to his
sister that she had painted the enormity of his vices in such
striking colors that they shocked him in the greatest degree,
and promised ever after to be as remarkable for generosity,
compassion, and every other virtue, as he had hitherto been
for cruelty, forwardness, and ill-nature." On the last page of
the book we read that "the piety of a child is sweeter than the
incense of Persia, offered to the sun ; yea, more delicious than
odors, wafted from a field of Arabian spices by the western
gales." ^
One book of American verse appears among the early pub-
lications of Goodale. It was McFingal: A modern Epic,
written by John Trumbull, Esq., and inspired by the events of
the Revolution. There are other imprints from the press of
"Uncle Zekiel," wherein to look would certainly require grace;
but one publication, for which his name should be most grate-
246
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
fully perpetuated, is the Maine Farmer s Almanac. This
famous old annual, which had a place next to the Bible in many
of the homes of Maine, was issued for sixty years in Hallowell.
In 1880, the Farmer s Almanac was purchased by Charles E.
Nash, and has since been printed in Augusta.
''Uncle Zekiel," however, did not confine his literary out-
put to his own publications, but imported from England the
best books of the time, for sale at his store, and for his
circulating library. Thus it happened that on one never-to-be-
forgotten day, a big new pasteboard placard was hung out at
the ''Sign of the Bible" which bore in large letters this inscrip-
tion: "Guy Mannering: A New Novel by the Author of
Waverley." Can we imagine the days when this book was
absolutely new, or the sensation it must have made in the
literary circles of this old town.?
On another eventful day, the front of the store was
covered with placards bearing this announcement: "Childe
Harold: A Poem by Lord Byron." In 181 1, the Musical
Repertory was announced. This was a collection of ancient and
modern songs, beginning with "Ye Mariners of England," and
including ballads and verses, by Tom Moore, Allan Ramsay,
Robert Burns, and other lyric poets. In 1819, Mr. Goodale
opened the old corner bookstore, at Number One, Kennebec
Row.
Ezekiel Goodale, the founder of the publishing business in
Hallowell, was born in West Boylston, Massachusetts, in 1780.
He married Betsey Stone, and removed to Hallowell in 1802.
He lived at first in an unpretentious house on Water Street,
but later built the typical old-time mansion on Chestnut Street,
afterwards the residence of Mr. Thomas Leigh, and now occupied
by Mr. Ben Tenney. In 1820, Mr. Franklin Glazier entered
into business with Mr. Goodale. Three years later Andrew
Masters and Justin E. Smith were taken into the firm. In
1857, Mr. Glazier retired, and Colonel Danforth P. Livermore
became a partner. The firm was continued under the name of
Masters and Livermore until 1 880.
Each of the men in this long succession of publishers was
a prominent and eminently worthy citizen of Hallowell.
Old Backs and Newspapers
247
Franklin Glazier, born in Oakham, Massachusetts, was the son
of John Glazier, and grandson of Jonathan Glazier who served
in the war of the Revolution. The mother of Franklin Glazier
was Dorothy Goodale, sister of Ezekiel Goodale, and a de-
scendant of John Goodale who settled in Salem in 1634.
Franklin Glazier married, December 18, 1823, Julia Tarbox of
Gardiner. Their children were Franklin, who married Emma
Swan; William Belcher; John; Julia Mary, afterwards Mrs.
John Russell; Louise Tarbox; and Eleanor Lucy, who married
the Rev. H. R. Howard, and now resides in Manheim, Pennsyl-
vania. The Glazier family lived in a spacious, square, old house
built by Thomas Bond on Warren Street. The house was
surrounded by extensive grounds shaded by fine trees. A
large willow-tree, on the corner of the front lawn, furnished all
the children in the neighborhood with wood for willow whistles;
and the whole place had an air of open hospitality which was
always very inviting. Franklin Glazier was highly esteemed as
a business man and citizen and, with his interesting family,
occupied a prominent social position in Hallowell. He died
June 9th, 1863.
Justin Ely Smith was the son of Stevens Smith of Hal-
lowell. He was born June 18, 1807, and married, November 13,
1833, Cornelia Wetmore, of Whitesboro, New York. Their chil-
dren, now living, are Caroline, who married William Sprague;
Amos Robinson, who married Carrie E. Freeman, daughter of
John and Caroline Page Freeman; and Alice Wetmore, who
married Frederick B. Smith; all of whom now reside in Chicago.
Justin E. Smith entered the bookstore of Goodale and
Glazier as a clerk at the age of thirteen. At twenty-one, he
became a member of the firm. He was recognized as one of
the ablest business men of Hallowell, and as an accountant and
mathematician, he was unequaled by any of 1 his fellow towns-
men. He was for many years cashier of the Northern National
Bank, and afterwards president of the Hallowell Savings Insti-
tution. As a citizen he was highly esteemed for his integrity,
benevolence, and public spirit.
Colonel Andrew Masters was born in Exeter, New
Hampshire, in 1794. At the age of thirteen, he entered a
248
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
printing office and served a faithful apprenticeship of seven
years. Having thus laid the foundation for his subsequent
successful career, Colonel Masters came to Hallow^ell in 1815,
and a few years later, entered the firm of Goodale and Glazier.
For sixty years, Colonel Masters was active in all the details of
the business as well as in the general oversight of the publish-
ing departments; and to his fostering care the maintenance and
success of the famous old Hallowell bookstore and publishing
house is greatly due. At the time of his death in 1881, he was
the oldest printer and publisher in the State of Maine.
In private life, Colonel Masters was greatly beloved and
respected. He had all the qualities of a noble manhood. He
was a faithful friend, a cordial, hospitable neighbor, a generous,
public-spirited citizen. He married October 14, 181 5, Sarah P.
Livermore, daughter of William Livermore. His grandson,
Mr. Alonzo Melvin, has written some interesting sketches of
early life in Hallowell.
Colonel Danforth P. Livermore, was not only an active
member of the publishing house of Masters and Livermore, but
was also one of the pioneer experts in telegraphy. At the age
of eighty -one he was the oldest living telegrapher in active service
in the world. He had been manager of the Hallowell Tele-
graph Office since 1850, and had trained and sent into service
more than forty skillful operators. When Colonel Livermore
first entered the Hallowell office, there was but one Maine line
stretching from Portland to Calais with a branch from Augusta
to Bath, and the average number of messages was two a day.
The veteran telegrapher of Maine, therefore, saw during his
lifetime a marvelous progress in the science of telegraphy.
Two of his children were also expert telegraphers. His son,
Mr. Charles D. Livermore, was manager of the Western Union
office in Portland for many years ; and his accomplished daugh-
ter. Miss Emma Livermore, was the first lady operator in the
world to send a telegram.
Miss Emma Livermore was also distinguished for her
musical ability. She was an exceptionally fine pianist and
accompanist, and possessed by nature such an acute and sensi-
tive musical organization that even reading music gave her the
Old Books and Newspapers
249
most exquisite pleasure. The death of Emma Livermore was
the occasion of profound sorrow to a large circle of friends.
Miss Sarah Livermore, the second daughter, married Captain
Charles E. Nash who rendered honorable service to his country
during the Civil War, and afterwards became well known as a
publisher and local historian.
Colonel and Mrs. Danforth P. Livermore lived to celebrate
the sixtieth anniversary of their wedding day, which was
fittingly commemorated by their children and friends.
The publishing business, as conducted by these five men
from 1 81 3 to 1880, was at times of extensive proportions, and
was far-reaching in its influence. It has been stated that, at
this period, ''no place in Maine ranked with Hallowell as the
center of book publishing, or in the spirit of its literary life."
In addition to the imprints already mentioned, this house pub-
lished the Maine Reports, the Revised Statutes, and many law
books; also many school books, including arithmetics, geogra-
phies, grammars, music books, spelling and reading books.
They published Williamson's History of Maine, Eaton's
Annals of Warren, volumes of poems, hundreds of pamphlets,
and a great variety of miscellaneous books. These Hallowell
publishers enjoyed an enviable reputation throughout the State,
and the *'old corner bookstore," in Kennebec Row, had more
than a local fame.
So enterprising a town as Hallowell could not long remain
without its weekly newspaper, and, on August 4, 1794, the
Eastern Star arose above the horizon, and although its orbit
was completed in one short year, it should be remembered as
the first of a series of greater luminaries that have never since
ceased to shed their light upon the region of the Kennebec.
A copy of this ancient newspaper, dated June 9, 1795, lies
before me. It bears this announcement: **rrinted and pub-
lished at the Hook, Hallowell, (Mass.) by Howard S. Robinson
at nine shillings per annum, exclusive of postage, where useful
Essays, articles of Intelligence etc. etc. are thankfully re-
ceived." It is a small four-page paper with the name of "I.
Nutter" written in indelible ink upon its yellow margin. The
250
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Eastern Star rose and set with due regularity for about a year
and then disappeared from the Uterary firmament of the Hook.
Its motto, at least, is worthy of remembrance :
"The Public Will, Our Guide— The Public Good, Our End."
The Eastern Star was succeeded by the Tocsin which was
edited and published by Wait and Baker. Copies of the Tocsin
issued from April i6, 1796 to June 9, 1797, are now preserved in a
bound volume, in the Hubbard Free Library at Hallowell.
This volume of old newspapers is unique and valuable as a
representative publication of its time. The Tocsin is also most
interesting on account of its articles on foreign and home
politics, and especially for the light it casts on the early history
of Hallowell. Its columns disclose the growth and progress of
the town, and perpetuate the names of the inhabitants who
were prominently identified with its business interests at this
early date. In an announcement appearing September 30,
1796, the editor, "relying on the aid and support of a generous
public," declares himself ready to use his utmost endeavors to
give the paper permanent establishment and to render it
"the repository of intelligence and useful information;" and
the editor is convinced that if his paper has merits," it will rise
in the estimation of the public, and have an extensive cir-
culation— otherwise it will sink, where it ought, into oblivion."
Far be it from us, the sons and daughters of Old Hallowell,
ever to let the Tocsin sink into oblivion; and to help, in some
slight degree, in sending its fame down to posterity, a few
extracts from the columns of this characteristic old New
England newspaper are here reprinted.
As we turn the leaves of the Tocsin, we find the first
three pages devoted to political editorials, foreign and domestic
news, interspersed with advertisements and local notes. The
fourth page, which was doubtless intended to appeal to "the
literati of the Hook," has its poet's corner, its literary and
scientific articles, its occasional short stories, and its interest-
ing or amusing anecdotes.
Under the head of ''Late Foreign Intelligence," we find
Old Books and Newspapers
251
the news from England, France, Holland, Spain, and Germany;
and the exciting military operations going on in these countries
are fully described. All the events thus commemorated have
now passed into the pages of history, which we read to-day with
a passive interest; but let us imagine, if we can, the excitement
which these stirring reports produced when the news arrived at
the little wide-awake town on the Kennebec. Let us fancy
ourselves among the crowd of alert, intelligent, liberty-loving
men who gather, perchance, at the stores of John Sheppard,
Joshua Wingate, and Chandler Robbins, or at the post-office
kept by Nathaniel Dummer, to discuss the latest news from
Europe. On the 9th of September, they receive the foreign
dispatches sent from Milan on the 19th of the previous May.
Perhaps John Sheppard himself, or Preceptor Woodman of the
Academy, reads the dramatic story aloud. Let us also listen:
"On the 14th, General Massena entered Milan with a van-
guard of about five thousand. The city sent the keys forward
to meet this General as far as Lodi, by a deputation of the
General Council and Archbishop. On his entrance, he struck
the keys together as a token of joy. The next day. General
Buonaparte made a brilliant entry. Arrived at the Roman gate
the National Guards received him with presented arms, and the
nobility and city officers paid him their compliments amidst the
applause of a vast crowd of spectators. He was preceded by a
large detachment of infantry, surrounded by a guard of huz-
zars, and followed by carriages and the Milanese National
guards. In this order he proceeded to his residence at the
Archducal palace, where he dismounted. There was served at
the palace a dinner of two hundred covers. The tree of liberty
was planted in front of the palace amidst cries of Vive la
liberie! Vive la republique ! The day finished with a very
elegant ball, at which a number of ladies appeared with ribbons
of the French national colors." /
If our latter-day souls are not stirred by these words, let us
listen to the proclamation of Buonaparte, from the headquarters
in Milan, to his ''Brethren in Arms:"
"Soldiers: You are precipitated like a torrent from the
252
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
heights of the Appennines; you have overthrown and dispersed
all that opposed your march. Piedmont, rescued from Austrian
tyranny, is left to its natural sentiments of regard and friend-
ship to the French. Milan is yours, and the Republican
standard is displayed throughout all Lombardy. The dukes of
Parma and Modena are indebted for their political existence to
your generosity. . . . The vaunted bulwarks of Italy were
insignificant. You swept them with the same rapidity that you
did the Appennines.
"These successes have carried joy into the bosom of your
country. Your representatives decreed a festival dedicated
to your victories. . . . Now, your fathers, your mothers,
your wives, your sisters, your sweethearts will rejoice in your
success, and take pride in their relation to you. Yes, Soldiers,
you have done much, but more remains for you to do. Shall it
be said of us that we know how to conquer, but not to profit by
our victories? Shall posterity reproach us with having found a
Capua at Lombardy.? But already I see you fly to arms, to
reestablish the Capitol, to rouse the Roman people entranced
with many ages of slavery, — this shall be the fruit of your vic-
tories! You will again be restored to your firesides and homes,
and your fellow citizens, pointing you out shall say: There
goes one who belonged to the Army of Italy!"
(Signed)
BUONAPARTE."
But affairs of national importance at home are not over-
looked in the Tocsin. On October 7, 1796, appears the
Message of President Washington apprising the people of the
United States that he declines to be considered among the
number from whom the choice of the next President must be
made. This long state paper, in which the Father of his
Country plainly stated his views on the home and foreign
policies of the nation, took a powerful hold upon the heads and
hearts of the people; and was evidently read and discussed by
the patriots and statesmen of the Hook and Fort, with all the
earnestness and personal interest felt by the men of that day
in the public affairs of the nation.
Old Books and Newspapers
253
Local politics also have a prominent place in the columns
of the Tocsin ; and candidates for the office of electors to make
choice of the new President and Vice-President are discussed in
letters addressed to the editor of the paper. These letters are
signed, "A Plain Man," Yeoman," "A Civil Man,"
"A Veteran," "Clericus," *'A Kindred Spirit," and '^Thou-
sands." They are written with a vigor and asperity quite
comparable with similar communications to the press at the
present day.
In its graphic summary of the political situation at the
close of the eighteenth century, the Tocsin offers the following
"Observations on the Conduct of Different Governments:"
France undertakes all.
England endeavors to corrupt all.
The King of Prussia deserts all.
The Emperor takes part with all.
Denmark bewares of all.
Sweden will have nothing at all.
Turkey wonders at all.
The Pope is afraid of all.
Spain is about to try all.
Russia balances all.
Holland pays all.
America receives all.
If God has not pity on all.
The Devil will take all.
To the lovers of poetry, the Tocsin proffers many lyric
gems, among which are the "Seasons of Life," the "Lamenta-
tion for Kosciusko," "Love and Philosophy," and an "Ode
to Night," and, most remarkable of all, the following lines:
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE AMIABI.E MISS
BETSEY WOOD.
Th' Almighty spake! pale death appear'd,
Shook his cold wings and sought his prey —
When lo! from heaven a voice he hear'd,
Go, fetch the lovely nymph away.
254
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Again the voice rehears'd the cry,
"Laura's too pure to dwell in dust —
"Quick, snatch her to her native sky,
To join th' assembly of the just."
Obedient then the monarch drew
His fatal bow, with visage keen —
When lo! the barbed arrow flew,
And sudden pierced the beauteous queen.
The fair one groan'd but to expire,
In arms of mercy was forgiv'n —
Then mounted on the Seraph's fire
She sweetly languished into heaven.
PALMYRA.
Hallowell, May i6, 1796.
The American Advocate was founded in Hallowell as a
"Democratic-Republican" paper, by Nathaniel Cheever, in 1810.
In his first editorial, Mr. Cheever announces that "political
questions will be discussed in the spirit and temper - of con-
ciliation, consistent with independent and decided opinion; but
as scurrility, invective, and personal abuse are not congenial to
this spirit, they are therefore at all times inadmissible."
To maintain such a temper as this must have been quite a
difficult task, for the political questions of the day were consid-
ered of alarming importance, and between Federals and Re-
publicans there was a bitter and implacable hostility. Mr.
Cheever, however, edited the Advocate with dignity and ability,
while its rival paper, the Hallowell Gazette^ founded in 1814,
vigorously expounded the doctrines of the Federal party.
After the death of Mr. Cheever in 1819, the Advocate was
transferred to Samuel K. Oilman who published the paper for
six years, ably guiding his party through the critical period
preceding the separation of Maine from Massachusetts.
The enterprise of the Advocate in placing the news of the
day before the public is illustrated by an incident which occured
while Judge Oilman occupied the editorial chair. This was the
time when Hallowell was practically a sea port town, and one
day, a vessel arrived, with an important piece of intelligence.
Old Books and Newspapers
255
directly from New Orleans. Mr. Oilman inserted the news in
the Advocate, just as its columns were going to press, and
immediately sent copies to the Boston papers. Thus the Bos-
ton editors, for once, at least, were obliged to give their readers
the latest national intelligence," as received via Hallowell on
the Kennebec.
It is rather interesting also to read in this old paper that
Daniel Webster had just delivered an oration at Plymouth, on
the two hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims;
that Wordsworth had recently written some touching lines en-
titled "We Are Seven;" and that a New England author had
published a new poem beginning, *'01d Grimes is dead."
In 1825, the American Advocate was sold to C. Spaulding.
This paper subsequently passed into the possession of S. W.
Robinson and Henry K. Baker. In 1835, it was united with
the Free Press edited by Richard D. Rice.
In the year 1814 the famous Hallowell Gazette was
founded. This paper was published for a little more than a
year by Goodale and Burton, and afterwards by Ezekiel
Goodale. The Gazette was established at a critical period in
our country's history when party spirit was very strong. In its
first number the editor announces that the paper ''will be con-
ducted on principles truly American, of the old Washington
School," and that its object will be *'to support those prin-
ciples of resistance to tyranny, oppression, and unconstitutional
invasion of the rights of the people, which produced our
glorious Revolution, and those federal principles of government
estabhshed by Washington and his associates." "The situation
of the country is perilous," asserts the Gazette, "and imposes
an imperious duty on the editor which he will fearlessly dis-
charge." /
The condition of affairs in Europe, in the year 1814, was
even more exciting than in our own country, and the columns
of the Hallowell Gazette fairly bristle with foreign news. The
defeat of Napoleon is announced with these large and exultant
headlines :
256
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
JOY TO THE WORLD! GREAT NEWS!
NAPOLEON THE GREAT IS FALLEN!
Bonaparte dethroned.
Complete emancipation and peace of Europe.
In order to learn the actual effect which this news had
upon the people of Hallowell and what were the sentiments of
some of the prominent men of the town whose names are
familiar to us all, we must revive the records of the great public
celebration held at Washington Hall on the 7th of June, 1814.
*Tn consequence of the wonderful and glorious events
which we had the pleasure to announce the last week," writes
the editor of the Gazette, "a spontaneous disposition was
exhibited among a respectable number of the citizens of this
town to give a public expression of those emotions excited by
the occasion." The leading men of Hallowell assembled at
Washington Hall where a banquet was served; and ''gratitude,
sympathy, and heartfelt pleasure animated every ' breast."
Thomas Bond, Jr., presided, and the following toasts were
drank, accompanied by music and the roar of cannon :
The Memory of Washington. — Had we adhered to his pre-
cepts, not one tear of regret would mingle with our cup of
rejoicing.
The Overthrow of Napoleon. — An example and warning to
tyrants and conquerors.
Louis 1 8th. — May his friendship for America be equal to
that of his brother, Louis i6th. By Mr. Jacob Abbott.
Governor Strong. — The venerable patriot, equal to every
crisis, the favorite ruler of the independent State of Massachu-
setts. By Thomas Bond, Jr.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Cradle of
Liberty. — May it soon become the Tomb of Democracy. By
Nathaniel Perley, Esq.
American Patriots. — None are "genuine" but those that
bear the "mark" of George Washington. By Major W. H.
Page,
Old Books and Newspapers
257
In the evening a large reception was given to the ladies
and citizens generally at Washington Hall which was brilliantly
illuminated and tastefully decorated. Excellent music added to
the festivity of the scene.
The young men of Hallowell were no less patriotic than
their fathers; and on the 4th of July, the young Washingtonian
Republicans celebrated the anniversary of the declaration of
American Independence, "in a very suitable and decent man-
ner." They had a dinner served in a very handsomely
decorated room and Master John Gow, son of Deacon Gow,
presided. The toasts prepared by these youthful Federals were
not lacking in wit, nor in a decided expression of the principles
of their party; and we are glad to be assured that "their
correct and orderly conduct was highly applauded."
On the following 4th of July, 181 5, the day was celebrated
at Hallowell by the Washington Benevolent Society of Ken-
nebec, and an eloquent oration was "pronounced" by William
C. Wilde, a young man twenty-three years of age, the oldest
son of Judge Samuel S. Wilde.
When the first number of the Kennebecker appeared in
June 1829 the Portland Advertiser md.diQ this comment:
"We like the name. Let us render our own soil classical;
and not go in search of Olympuses and Parnassuses in another
world."
The Kennebecker edited by Henry K. Baker, evidently did
its best to live up to this advice. This publication has more
the appearance of a primitive magazine than of the weekly
newspaper. Its tone is literary, and its contents consist largely
of essays, original and selected, and a generous quota of poetry.
The domestic and foreign news of the day, although not
omitted, is relegated to small type and no space is wasted in
headlines. One brief extract from the columns of the Kenne,
becker in regard to the writers of the time shows that the
modern wail over the decadence of literature is not without
precedent.
"The literature of the day appears to be fast degenerating.
Vigor and originality are the rarest qualities in the poetry and
258
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
prose of the times, except common sense. Willis, who was
deeply imbued with the spirit of poesy, has taken to writing
coxcombial rhymes for the newspapers. To read his doggerel,
one would think he lounged about Cornhill in 'pink cravat' and
stays, went to church with a smelling bottle, wrote with a crow
quill, and left his tailor's bills unpaid. It is a pity so promising
a poet should be so easily spoiled. Bryant and Brooks have
quit the service of the muse for the Jackson party. Percival
has just been delivered of Webster's Dictionary; Halleck,
Peabody, and G. Mellen are too idle or too busy for poetry;
Pierpont, Sprague, and Flint have their hands full with writing
dedication hymns; Longfellow is in Italy; Pinckney is dead;
Irving rests from his labors with a comfortable office; Cooper is
writing for John Bull; Paulding, and a host of lesser stars,
suffer partial eclipse. The ladies only are trying to be useful.
. . . Pray Heaven the curse of effeminacy is not coming
upon us as a nation. "
The next newspaper established in Hallowell was Maine
Cultivator and Weekly Gazette^ the first issue of which
appeared September 28th, 1839. This paper was published by
T. W. Newman and R. G. Lincoln, and was edited for two
years by William A. Drew. It was especially devoted to
"Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts," but contained the usual
interesting miscellaneous reading demanded by a weekly family
papier. In the year 1845, Mr. E. Rowell, became connected
with Mr. Newman in the publication of the Maine Cutivatof
and Weekly Gazette, In 1850, the name was reversed and the
paper was called The Hallowell Gazette and Maine Cultivator.
Three years later the second name was dropped and the
publication appeared with the name of its early and notable
predecessor. The Hallowell Gazette. This able and interest-
ing old paper, with which all of the old residents of Hallowell
were familiar, was successively published by Mr. E. Rowell, Mr.
Charles E. Nash, until 1869, and for two years longer by Mr.
Henry Chase. Its last issue appeared in December, 1871.
A complete file of these old Hallowell newspapers from
1 810 to 1 871 is now preserved in the Hubbard Free Library.
XVI
THE HARMONIC SOCIETY, THE THEATER, AND
THE LYCEUM
"The heritage of Hallowell is rich indeed."
— Professor Charles F. Richardson.
^■BI^HE early residents of Hallowell were not only
/ 'l lovers of literature, but lovers of music; and the god-
\y dess of the * 'divine art" here found a shrine in many
homes. In the households of the Vaughans and the
Merricks, music formed a part of the every-day life of the
family. The best instructors were employed, and the young
people had lessons on the piano, the violin, and the flute. Mr.
John Merrick had received a thorough musical education in
England. He possessed a very sweet and highly cultivated
tenor voice, and was a cultured musical critic. Miss Harriet
Vaughan, daughter of Charles Vaughan, was an accomplished
pianist and a fine singer. Mrs. John Sheppard, who had been
educated in France, also did much to stimulate the study and
appreciation of good music in Hallowell. The Abbotts came of
musical ancestry, and the children of Jacob and Harriet
Vaughan Abbott had thus a double inheritance of musical
talent. The Pages were also rarely gifted; and the melody of
John O. Page's rich bass voice lingered long in the ears of the
church-goers at the Old South. Mrs. Elizabeth Dole Kimball,
Miss Hannah Dole, and Mrs. Joseph Barrett were notable
soloists in their day. John Merrick, Paul Stickney, Franklin
A. Day, and Samuel Tenney were famous choir leaders; and
the Livermores, Moodys, Drews, Samuel Locke, and, in later
years. Major Rowell and Dr. John Quincy Adams Hawes,
contributed much to the musical reputation of the town.
This wealth of musical talent naturally found its first public
expression in church music ; and the choirs of Hallowell were
famous for excellent singing. The Old South was, of course,
26o
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
the first to make a name for itself in this respect. Under the
successive leadership of John Merrick, Paul Stickney, and
Samuel Tenney, the choirs of this church attained a degree of
proficiency and culture comparable with that of any leading
New England church. A little later, the choir of the Univer-
salist church attained celebrity under the leadership of Franklin
A. Day, and Allen Drew. Mrs. Elizabeth Decker, daughter of
the famous old-time singer, Master Samuel Locke, and her
two daughters, Mrs. Maria Boyd and Mrs. Elizabeth Hubbard,
were favorite soloists of the Universalist choir, and con-
tributed to its fame.
Music in Hallowell reached the height of its development
in the thirties and forties; and it has been conceded, by local
authorities, that at this time, Hallowell, in musical culture, was
fifty years ahead of any other place in Maine.
It was at this period (1832), that the famous Hallowell
Harmonic Society was founded. This society was organized
and most successfully conducted under the leadership of Paul
Stickney, a man eminently qualified for such an office. One of
Mr. Stickney's pupils once said of him: "What he did not
know about music was not worth knowing." Mr. Stickney was
a leader of stern temperament, and most exact in all his
instruction. In the chorus he sang an obligato^ or treble with
the lady singers. At the recitals of the society, the organ was
played by Miss Elizabeth Cheever. Some of the prominent
members were: Miss Elizabeth Dole, one of the finest alto
singers of Hallowell; Mr. Alex Jones, who had a remarkable
tenor voice; Mr. John Stickney, an excellent bass singer; Mr.
John D. Lord; and Colonel Livermore.
The singers were supported by an excellent orchestra.
Wendenberg, a German musician, played the first violin. Mr.
Charles Vaughan, the violoncello; Mr. Frank Day, the double
bass; Horace Waters of Augusta, the second violin; and Allen
Drew led the alto with an E^ clarionet. This society gave many
"grand sacred concerts." A few old printed programmes,
still extant, are of interest. At one of these concerts, in
1833, the "Harmonic" rendered the "Chorus from Judas Mac-
cabaeus" and selections from Handel; in 1834, its programme
The Hallowell Theater
included Beethoven's ^'Hallelujah to the Father," "Awake the
Harp," from Haydn's "Creation," and Gloria in Excelsis by
Pergolesi. In 1836, the Harmonic Society announced its
sixth oratorio consisting of selections from Haydn's "Creation."
It is sad to record, however, that even in music-loving
Hallowell, the allurements of social life sometimes diminished
the size of the audience at these classical concerts ; and that
"owing to the great number of balls and parties," the oratorio
of the Hallowell Harmonic, in 1836, was not so well attended as
was desirable, "although there were as many present, consider-
ing all the circumstances, as could have been expected." But
notwithstanding this occasional lack of public appreciation,
the Hallowell Harmonic Society exercised great influence in
the musical circles of Maine, and, by the introduction of
classical compositions and the famous oratorios, familiarized the
people of the Kennebec valley with this class of music to an
extent unknown elsewhere in Maine.
Old Hallowell was also favored with some excellent dramatic
as well as musical entertainments. In 1819, a theater was built
and opened on Hinckley's Plains and sustained for several
years by the "Boston Company of Comedians." The reper-
tory of this company consisted of the standard dramas of the day,
including Shakespearean plays and first-class comedies. The
cast consisted of such actors as Warren, Williams, Barrett,.
Karnock, Mr. and Mrs. Powell, Mr. and Mrs. Pelby, Mr. and
Mrs. Bray, Mrs. Barnes, Miss Clark, and others. Mr. Bray was
at that time unrivaled as a comic actor; Mrs. Bray was a
charming actress. Mr. and Mrs. Pelby and Mr. and Mrs.
Powell shared the honors in the leading parts. Mr. Barrett was
then a tall and handsome youth and was a great favorite on the
Hallowell stage. Mr. Ostinelli, who led thfe orchestra, was a
violinist then unequaled in this country, and who played only
music of the highest order. He was very jealous of his repu-
tation as a violinist and was very angry if called a "fiddler."
He refused to play for dancing, and when importuned to do so
by a lady of social influence, he deliberately cut the strings of
262
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
his violin and said, with his blandest smile and most polite bow,
"Very sorry, very sorry, Madame, — you see I can no play."
The members of this dramatic company were men and
women of irreproachable character who were received in the
best society in the place ; and their performances at the theater
on Hinckley's Plains were attended by the elite of Hallowell,
Augusta, and Gardiner.
The playbills of the Boston Company of Comedians for
the season of 1823 — ''positively for twelve nights only," —
afforded very attractive programmes. Among the most popu-
lar plays presented on the Hallowell stage were a much admired
melodrama entitled, ''Blue Beard or Female Curiosity;"
"Warlock of the Glen," with a Scotch dance by Mrs. Bray
and Miss Clark; "Romeo and Juliet," introducing "a masquer-
ade dance by the characters," and "a funeral dirge at the
tomb of the Capulets;" and a grand romantic spectacle called the
"Forty Thieves," with splendid scenery, machinery, dresses, and
decorations, as performed at all the English and American
theaters with great success.
The idea of the instruction and entertainment of the
people by public lectures manifests itself very early in the
history of Hallowell. Local talent was soon enlisted in this work
and the scientific, literary, and professional men of the town
generously contributed of their time and talent to the support
of this commendable undertaking. Notable men from abroad
were also invited to address the Hallowell people and always
found appreciative audiences. On September 26, 1832, William
Lloyd Garrison lectured in the Old South meeting-house on
"Slavery." He afterwards remarked that the people stared at
him as though he had "half-a-dozen heads and as many horns."
About 1840, the political interests of the country began to
absorb the attention of the people and the Lyceum declined,
but in 1849, ^ i^sw organization was formed, which brought to
Hallowell not only the ablest speakers of Maine, but of New
England. The first lecture of the Lyceum was on " Popular
Governments," by Professor Champlin of Waterville College;
The Hallowell Lyceum
263
the second was by Rev. Charles F. Allen, of Augusta. These
lectures were followed, in the course, by a poem: "Our
Childhood's Home," which was *'an able and elegant affair,"
written and delivered by Mr. William B. Glazier, of Hallowell.
**The poem abounded in language of chasteness and beauty,
deep feeling and pathos, presented in all the richness of perfect
rhythm, with clear enunciation and a delivery of ease and
gracefulness." Other lectures by Maine orators were "The
Poetry of Robert Burns," by William P. Drew, "The French
Revolution," by John L. Stevens, and a poem, "The Golden
Calf," by the Rev. Mr. Pierpont.
The most memorable course of lectures given under the
auspices of this Lyceum was that of the year 1853. Some of
the lecturers of this year were Wendell Phillips, John G.
Saxe, George W. Curtis, W. R. Alger, Henry Giles, Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Professor R. D. Hitchcock of Bowdoin,
Professor George Shepard of Bangor, Richard H. Dana, Jr.,
Mr. Chickering, Rev. John S. C. Abbott, Ralph Waldo
Emerson, and Lucy Stone. "The rush to the Lyceum, this
season," as recorded in \}s\^ Hallowell Gazette, was "beyond all
former precedent." It was "almost impossible to secure a
desirable seat without going long before the time of commence-
ment."
"Mr. John G. Saxe" writes an old citizen, "was a fine
fresh-looking man, with a twinkle in his eye, who made us all
merry by his funny ways." "Mr. George W. Curtis" said
the editor of the Gazette, "is one of the finest speakers we ever
heard, and his subject. Young America, was treated as only a
master mind could treat it." Lucy Stone also called out one of
the largest audiences ever packed into the old Town Hall.
Three lectures were given by this famous woman lecturer, in
Hallowell, during one week. Her subjects w^re "The Political
and Legal Disabilities of Woman," and the "Bible View
of Woman's Rights." It is recorded that "Miss Stone ap-
peared before the audience in modest apparel and conducted the
discussion with womanly grace and dignity."
The press and the people were not, however, indiscriminate
in their criticisms of the lecturers; and some of their comments
264
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
are interesting at the present day. Of the Rev. Mr. Chick-
ering's lecture on "Switzerland," the Gazette remarks: "Mr.
C. gave an interesting account of a Swiss tour among the
glaciers, mountains, and valleys of classic Switzerland, but
the subject was too chilly for a midwinter's evening, and the
words of the speaker seemed to fall with icy frigidity upon
the chattering audience."
Concerning Professor Hitchcock's very learned lecture on
the "Origin of the Various Races of Mankind," one good
lady remarked on her way home, "Oh, it was charming, excel-
lent, but — I couldn't understand it, could you?"
Of Richard Henry Dana's lecture, the Kennebecker wrote
as follows:
"It was announced that Richard Henry Dana, Jr., was
engaged to lecture. The citizens turned out en masse to
hear Dana for they felt just as sure that he would tell them
something about the sea, from his experience, as though he had
told them so. No one presumed to ask another what they
thought the subject would be. Judge of our disappointment
when a rather stiff-looking man, claw hammer coat, trouser-
loons sheeted home at the heels, and flying jibboom boots, with
a grafftopsail hat in his hand (these are the sailor terms for a
dress suit), was introduced and announced the subject of his
lecture, *The Life of Edmund Burke!' What did we care
about Edmund Burke.? We all had read all we wished to know
about him; and probably one-half the audience knew as much
about him as the lecturer. We wished to hear a professional
sailor tell us of the sea, of the men, and the things of the sea.
We were all very much disappointed."
The public lecture courses continued to flourish until the
time of the Civil War when the loyal citizens of Hallowell con-
centrated all their thoughts and efforts upon patriotic work and
the vital interests of the nation.
/
XVII
SOCIAL LIFE OF OLD HALLOWELL
**Our fathers fostered those good manners which are good morals."
— Rev. Henry Vaughan Emmons.
ST IS undoubtedly true that the sons and daughters of
Old Hallowell now idealize, to some degree, the place
that is so often designated as *'the dear old town;" and
so, lest the pen of the present writer be dipped in the
tints of the rose, lest the picture of the social life of old Hal-
lowell, seen through the far perspective, be over-colored with
the glow of imagination, the testimony of a few contemporary
records, writ in the good old indelible India ink of our fore-
fathers, is here offered to the reader.
The Hon. William Allen, an old and highly esteemed
citizen of Norridgewock, writes in his reminiscenses of Now
and Then^ "It was my good fortune to reside in Hallowell in
the time of its greatest prosperity when its reputation for
integrity and veracity, good habits, intelligence, industry, and
civility was of a higher grade than that of any other place within
my knowledge." The Hon. George H. Sheppard, who spent
his boyhood in Hallowell, states that this town 'though border-
ing on the frontier settlements was then the seat of more wealth
and culture than any other point of Maine, except, perhaps,
Portland;" and John Ward Dean, A. M., of Boston tells us
that "there was here a state of society having characteristics
that can never be reproduced."
It is a matter of congratulation to all students of the his-
tory of Hallowell that, in addition to the abov^ brief statements,
there still exist descriptions of the social life of the town
written by those who could truly say: "All of which I saw and
a part of which I was." These descriptions give to us a charm-
ing and undeniably truthful picture of the olden days. It is
with pleasure that I transcribe these old papers hoping that the
266
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
story our fathers have told us will find a place in the memory
of a new generation of readers.
One vivid picture of social life in Hallowell in the early
years of the nineteenth century is given to us by Hallowell' s
famous old story-teller, the Rev. John H. In graham.
"In that day," said Mr. Ingraham, ''people were more
hospitable and social than in our modern times. If then a
gentleman came down from Boston to visit for a few days
some family, a party was at once got on foot to do him honor.
Invitations would be sent to all genteel families within thirty
miles of Hallowell, from Old General Chandler's in Monmouth,
round by the Howards and Conys to Augusta, to the Litbgows,
and others at Dresden and Wiscasset, and so over to the Kings
at Bath, and to the Stanwoods at Brunswick. Everybody came
that was invited. No weather kept them back, and in those
days the rivers were unbridged, and sometimes the lively guests
would drive a dozen miles around to get to a ferry. If it were
winter, so much the better ; for if the river were f roz.en they
could make a good sleighing frolic of the ride home and back.
Snow five feet deep was no obstruction to these joyous party-
goers. Then, when they reached the mansion where the party
was to be given, they would find the house brightly lighted up,
every room glowing, fifty sleighs standing around it, the horses
all covered with bear skins and blankets, for buffaloes were then
very rare. At the door one or two well dressed servants,
(often in livery^ too, dear reader!) would take their smoking
horses by the head, and the master of the house, forewarned by
the jingling sleigh-bells, would step out to receive his guests
bareheaded, fearless of the frosty air, his hair powdered, his
knee and shoe buckles glittering, and his face covered with
smiles. With old-fashioned politeness, he would assist the lady
from her sleigh, hand her in to the wardrobe woman who
would hurry her past the glittering drawing rooms to a warm
back apartment, there to disrobe; while her husband after a
hearty shake of the hand would be conducted to another
for the same purpose by the gentleman, who, before the new-
comer had time to throw aside his overcoat, would lead him to
a sideboard and make him take half a tumbler of hot brandy
Social Life of Old Hallow ell
267
toddy which was kept constantly hot and mixed by a white-
headed old negro in attendance. Then a nice glass of toddy
was sent in to the lady in the disrobing room, and usually came
back emptied! Those days of *old times' were not exactly
temperance times.
"Then when they entered the rooms they found everybody
dancing, on the very tiptoe of hilarious enjoyment. There was
no waltzing; dances of that character were then unknown, but
minuets and contra dances (called then country dances) were in
vogue. By and by there was a movement into one of the rear
or perhaps an upper room where a long table was set out, laden
with every sort of a delicacy from a roast pig and a roast turkey
to a barberry tart. Wines and strong waters sparkled red and
amber in the rich decanters, and for the old folks there were
pitchers of nice cider. Everybody was suited and everybody
enjoyed themselves. The minister was always there! They
used to have but one minister in those primitive days ! And his
venerable head is still among us to bless us ! He always asked
a blessing, (or rather made a prayer as was the custom) before
they began to demolish the fair show upon the board.
**After the feast they returned to dancing, which, when
they were tired of it, was changed for games, such as 'Button,
Button, Who's Got the Button,' 'Hunt the Slipper,' and *Blind-
man's-Buff.' They usually wound up with 'Oats, Peas, Beans,
and Barley O': but not before the day began to dawn ! Then
such a general bundling up and bundling into sleighs; such
leave-takings screamed out and shouted from male and female
voices; such jingling of bells was never heard except on like
occasions when the next parties came off. Those who lived on
the same road usually stopped to start together and so they
went off in various parties and always in high glee.
"Sometimes a heavy snow storm would^' come on in the
night and before the morning the roads would be so blocked up
as to become impassable. Such an event was always a source
of great satisfaction to the hospitable host of that day ; as he
foresaw a continuance, at least, of the party for two or three
days longer. One party that had assembled at General
C -'s [Chandler's], at Monmouth, was thus detained three
268
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
days; and the spirit of joyous misrule reigned for three days
within the walls of that hospitable mansion. Day and night
King Frolic had full ascendancy. The negro fiddler fairly
broke down, and the gentlemen who were amateurs^ resolving
not to give it up so, took the fiddles and kept up the merrimient.
"Those were days of the Olden Time I And since then times
have changed! In all this frolicking there was no lack of
courteous bearing. The gentlemen of that day were, in
manners, models that we might imitate; for courtly manners
have sadly fallen av/ay. The ladies, too, were stately and
beautiful, and although they went in hand and foot for frolic,,
they knew when to be dignified. Do we not now bear witness
to this when we speak of one and say he is a 'gentleman of the
old school,' or of a lady, 'she is one of the old school dames?"*
Mr. Ingraham in this sketch of the old-time hospitality on
the Kennebec does not give us the name of his typical host;
but Mr. John H. Sheppard introduces us personally to the
master of the Vaughan mansion, and describes him as "a man
of taste, fortune, and birth," who possessed the "courtly man-
ners of the most polished gentleman of the old school." "No
stranger," writes Mr. Sheppard, "ever visited Hallowell without
letters to him, and none went away without loving him."
"Hallowell, at this period," writes Mr. Sheppard, "though
small in population was a remarkable village. No town in
Maine could boast of a more select and charming circle. . . .
Many fine families related to each other had emigrated there.
Among Dr. Vaughan's connections, were his brother Charles
and Mr. Merrick, who dwelt near him. And there was Judge
Chandler Robbins, with whom Count Talleyrand, when a visitor
at Hallowell, made his home ; and truly the Judge kept up the
best appearance, and hospitably entertained strangers with the
smallest resources of any man I ever saw. There were the
Dummer and Moody and Perley families, of kindred and ancient
descent from the settlers of New England; and the Pages,
Wingates, and others which might be named, with the Rev.
Eliphalet Gillet, D. D., the pastor; all of whom are gone.
Nor was there a more charming family than Mr. Wilde's, after-
wards our Judge of the Supreme Judicial Court. They all
Social Life of Old Hallowell
269
contributed to make this woodland spot a central point of
attraction by elevating the moral and intellectual tone of the
life. These social enjoyments were increased in the short and
joyous summer, when boating parties resorted to the ocean,
allured by the cool breezes and lovely islands of the eastern
seashore; or under the cold blue skies of winter, when its
charms drew forth fleets of sleighs in which the gaiety of the
country ballroom was sought, as the merry bells resounded
through wood and dale."
To the names here mentioned should be added those of the
Abbotts, Cheevers, Ingrahams, Doles, Agrys, Bonds, Spragues,
Gilmans, and other families who formed a constituent part of
the social life of Hallowell.
The home of Dr. Benjamin Page was especially character-
ized by its hospitality, and its doors were always open to the
young people of the town. It was here that the youthful
literati of Hallowell held their meeting on the memorable even-
ing when the song of the Blue Stocking Chib first saw the light.
This poem was written by Miss Elizabeth Peabody, a sister of
Mrs. Hawthorne and of Mrs. Horace Mann, who spent a season
in Hallowell, in 1824. The verses were shown a few years ago
to Miss Peabody, who had forgotten their existence, but who
well remembered the brilliant circle of young people that formed
the Blue Stocking Club.
THE BIvUB STOCKING CI.UB
Wend you with the Blues to-night ?
Grave and gay, engaged and free,
All that kneel to beauty bright,
All that worship mirth and glee ;
Some the learned page to scan,
Some perchance to listen too,
Some for conquering hearts to plan,
Youths and Misses divers ages, '
Are going — gone to Dr. Page's.
Wend you with the Blues to-night?
A gay assemblage will be there :
Vaughan with glowing beauty bright,
Happy heart and joyous air.
Some the pincushions to sew;
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
The elder Merrick gently grave,
And Mary, silent, full of feeling;
And Gillet skilled on love to rave
Every rising thought revealing;
Youths and Misses divers ages.
Going — gone to Dr. Page's.
Wend you with the Blues to-night?
Brown and Perley in the ties
Of cronyism bound so tight,
There will dash in fashion's guise;
Cox with fascinating air.
Conquering hearts with every glance,
With looks and manners debonair,
Glowing cheeks and eyes askance;
Youths and Misses divers ages.
Going — gone to Dr. Page's.
Wend you with the Blues to-night?
Norris, Agry, sweetly clad ;
The Farrells, both perhaps in white,
Perchance in Carolina plaid ;
All the Pages too, of course,
Julia, Harriet, Fraziette ;
So many names are there perhaps
Some the prophet may forget;
Youths and Misses divers ages,
Going — gone to Dr. Page's.
Wend you with the Blues to-night?
Messrs. Flagg and Balch are going,
William Stickney, Moore and Dwight;
All the tide of fashion flowing ;
And with leaders of the ton,
Haggard students from their cells,
Lombard, Otis, Robinson,
To sport a season with the Belles;
Youths and Misses divers ages,
Going — gone to Dr. Page's.
Wend you with the Blues to-night?
*Tis certain you may be amused ;
In some corner you may light.
Where some neighbors are abused ;
If 'tis not in your vein, pass by ;
Some choice spirits still are there.
Social Life of Old Hallow ell
271
And by the power of sympathy
You may soon discover where ;
For Youths and Misses divers ages,
All are going to Dr. Page's.
Wend you with the Blues to-night ?
See the moon is brightly beaming,
Creation now is clad in light.
Propitious to the lover's dreaming;
I/Cave behind your toil and care,
Ivcave behind your musty law?
Go where mirth and beauty are ;
What should you look gravely for ?
Youths and Misses divers ages,
Haste ye ! haste to Dr. Page's.
This clever poem was a parody on some verses, by a writer
in Washington, entitled Mrs. Adams' Ball which contained the
suggestive lines :
Miss Peabody, the author of the parody, was a talented but
somewhat eccentric woman. She was a school-teacher in her
youth, and did much to introduce the kindergarten methods in
America. In her after years, she became famous as a writer,
and as a lecturer in the Concord School of Philosophy. She
was a friend of the Alcotts, Emersons, and Channings, and a
member of the '^inner circle of the Transcendentalists."
A glimpse of informal neighborly intercourse between the
families of our old town is given to us by the Rev. John S. C.
Abbott, who spent his youth in Hallowell.
"Hallowell" writes Mr. Abbott, *'was a social place.
There were many parties. The simple entertainment of tea,
assisted by her hired help. There was neither dancing nor
card-playing. There was sufficient culture with both gentle-
men and ladies, for them to enjoy a couple of hours of conver-
sation. Our parlor, with its floor painted yellow, with its
bookcase, tall mahogany clock, shining brass andirons, and
"Belles and matrons, maids and madams,
All are gone to Mrs. Adams."
coffee, and cake, was prepared
house
272
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
truly splendid fire of rock maple blazing on the hearth, and
lighted with mold candles, presented to my mind a picture
of elegance which was not surpassed in subsequent years by the
splendors of the saloons of the Tuileries blazing with their
myriads of wax lights. These parties almost invariably broke
up at about nine o'clock, and at ten all the candles were blown
out."
Another very charming picture of home life in Hallowell
may be found in a letter written by Mrs. Charles Bulfinch,
the wife of the famous Boston architect, while she was a guest
in the home of her sister, Mrs. Charles Vaughan, at "Sunset
Farm."
Hallowell, June 29th [1830]
*'We have been comfortably settled in this most pleasant
place about 6 days, and as you will readily believe delightfully
to myself. We have found our good friends well and their
place highly improved ; indeed, let us look where we will, the
handsome white buildings on the cultivated hills meet our eye
between Hallowell and Augusta. . . . How should you
like to have me tell you the manner in which we pass our quiet
day.? I will, as I have no news to write, and this may interest
you. In the morning after our breakfast, we go into another
parlor, and Charles V. reads a chapter in the Bible, when we
all kneel and your Uncle reads a prayer ; we then rise and walk
about to admire the prospect, the Chaise is soon at the door
and Charles and a young lady who boards here and keeps the
infant school, ride a mile to the village. I retire to my room
and your father and Uncle walk out for a stroll. Your Aunt
and Cousin H. F. and myself sit down to our needle. We dine
at I o'clock, afterwards find our needle or book or pen a re-
source for an hour or two, when if we wish to ride or walk we
can do it, as there are two chaises to be had. After tea
we have music, and here I find great indulgence to my fond-
ness for this lovely art. Charles plays readily and sweetly on
the flute and bass viol. H. F. sings finely, accompanying her
Piano; Miss Turner also sings — and so harmoniously do we go
on, that 10 o'clock comes ere we can think how time has sped
Xfi
H
u
o
O "
^ rsi
> w
5 ^
c! -
O
W
JO
Social Life of Old Hallow ell
273
along. After this, Uncle calls us to prayers, and we end the
calm day as we began it." ^
Nor were the children forgotten in the social life of these
old days. "Our mothers," writes Mr. Abbott, "often got up
parties for us little children, between the ages of five and
twelve. We went at six and left at nine. My father would not
only join with us in playing 'Hunt the Slipper' and 'Blind-
man's-Buff,' but with his bass viol would play for our tiny feet
over the floor in what we called a dance. Sometimes one of
the older boys would favor us with the music of the flute.". . . .
"The mothers" adds Mr. Abbott, "who dressed the little
girls so prettily, gave them their parties, made the cake,
brought out the almost sacred cups and saucers of 'china,' and
joined in the sports around the glowing rock-maple fire were
loved by us children with an affection which can never die."
The "young ladies and gentlemen" of these old days,
also had a generous share in the social life of the town, and
occasionally a "party" would be given for the young people that
would now be considered a "most brilliant social event."
A description of a "splendid ball" given in the Warren
mansion in honor of the daughter of the house. Miss Anne
Warren, still exists in a letter written by a little girl of twelve
years who was present on this grand occasion. The writer was
"little Mary Merrick." The letter, of which an exact copy
is here transcribed, gives us, not only a picture of the "splendid
ball," but a glimpse into the ingenuous child-nature of the
writer.
Hallowell October 25th 1823.
Dear Mother,
As Mr. Dustin is going to Philadelphia on
Monday I think it is a very good opportunity to write to you
and although I have not much to say I will communicate what
little I have.
Uncle leaves us on Monday for Boston I do not know how
long he will stay I believe it is uncertain.
Since I wrote last I have been to another Ball where there
^ Charles Bulfinck, Architect, p. 273-274.
Social Life of Old Hallow ell
273
along. After this, Uncle calls us to prayers, and we end the
calm day as we began it." ^
Nor were the children forgotten in the social life of these
old days. "Our mothers," writes Mr. Abbott, "often got up
parties for us little children, between the ages of five and
twelve. We went at six and left at nine. My father would not
only join with us in playing 'Hunt the Slipper' and 'Blind-
man's-Buff,' but with his bass viol would play for our tiny feet
over the floor in what we called a dance. Sometimes one of
the older boys would favor us with the music of the flute.". . . .
"The mothers" adds Mr. Abbott, "who dressed the little
girls so prettily, gave them their parties, made the cake,
brought out the almost sacred cups and saucers of * china,' and
joined in the sports around the glowing rock-maple fire were
loved by us children with an affection which can never die."
The "young ladies and gentlemen" of these old days,
also had a generous share in the social life of the town, and
occasionally a "party" would be given for the young people that
would now be considered a "most brilliant social event."
A description of a "splendid ball" given in the Warren
mansion in honor of the daughter of the house. Miss Anne
Warren, still exists in a letter written by a little girl of twelve
years who was present on this grand occasion. The writer was
"little Mary Merrick." The letter, of which an exact copy
is here transcribed, gives us, not only a picture of the "splendid
ball," but a glimpse into the ingenuous child-nature of the
writer.
Hallowell October 25th 1823.
Dear Mother,
As Mr. Dustin is going to Philadelphia on
Monday I think it is a very good opportunity to write to you
and although I have not much to say I will communicate what
little I have.
Uncle leaves us on Monday for Boston I do not know how
long he will stay I believe it is uncertain.
Since I wrote last I have been to another Ball where there
^ Charles Bulfinch, Architect, p. 273-274.
274
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
was upwards of a hundred; I suppose after what I said in my
last letter you will think it rather curious my going to this ball,
I had made up my mind not to be disappointed if H did not let
me go, but she said it was something out of the common way
& I might go, accordingly I prepared myself & left home about
a quarter before 7, quite fashionable.
We did not go to tea, but I forgot to say this splendid ball
was given by Miss Anne Warren, there were two parlors which
opened into one by means of Folding doors, when I went in
there were about 50 young ladies and gentlemen, after we had
been 1-2 hour the folding doors were thrown open & we were
desired to walk into the other parlour, where the carpet had
been previously taken up, the other carpet was speedily re-
moved & we commenced dancing to the sound of a violen &
clarionet, we danced till 1-2 past nine, when we were marched
up stairs into a room where there was a very splendid supper
set out after supper coffee was handed round, we then went
down stairs & again commenced dancing, I got home at 1-2
past II.
I believe I have not any more to say, therefore with love to
Brother from whom I hope soon to hear, I must say Adieu,
and remain
your affectionate daughter
Mary
P. S. I send you a drawing of Miss Warren's supper table.
Before me, as I write, lies the drawing of "Miss Warren's
Supper Table" made by the hand of "little Mary Merrick," in
the year 1823. The paper is yellow with age; but the lines and
dots are perfectly distinct. The drawing represents a very
long table with an oval projection midway on either side. In
the middle of the table was a glass filled with flowers and sur-
rounded by a circle of wax candles. Around the border of the
table were plates for over a hundred guests. The dots in the
row next to the plates indicate "tumblers," and the tiny
circlets next the tumblers were "whips or custards." On right
and left of the center-piece were "iced plum cakes ornamented
with flowers;" on the other two sides were "dishes of triffle.*'
Social Life of Old Hal low ell
275
At one end of the table was a ham; at the other a turkey, and
at either side a large platter containing tongues." Two
"silver baskets full of cake, four puddings, ornamented almonds,
four dishes of different sweetmeats," with apples, pears,
peaches, and raisins, completed the feast.
A photographic copy of this quaint old drawing made by
little Mary Merrick, will help us to keep in mind, not only
an exact idea of "Miss Warren's very splendid supper," but
a picture of the hospitality lavished even upon the young
people in Old Hallo well.
The Warren house in which this entertainment was given
was a spacious mansion built by Hon. Ebenezer T. Warren. It
had been the scene of a very sumptuous "house-warming" a
few weeks before the party of Miss Anne took place, and was
ever afterwards renowned for its hospitality.
It is also of interest here to note that Miss Anne Warren,
the hostess of this party, was herself only a child twelve years
old; and we can imagine no prettier picture in the social
life of Old Hallowell than that of this young hostess and her
guests, as they went up and down the beautiful winding stair-
way of the Warren mansion. This stairway itself might have
served as a model for Burne-Jones when he painted his famous
picture of the Golden Stair;" and if the fair maidens of Old
Hallowell, in their simply flowing gowns, had only gone
barefoot to Miss Anne Warren's party, instead of wearing their
dainty morocco or satin slippers, they might fittingly have
passed for the exquisite vision that inspired the soul of the
painter.
It is generally conceded that Hallowell was the center of
hospitality and of the social life on the Kennebec, but there
were also many wealthy and cultured families in Augusta,
Gardiner, Pittston, and Dresden, who entertained very freely
and interchanged hospitalities in a delightful manner. In
Augusta, still lived the Howards, the Norths, the Conys, the
Bridges, the Fullers, and the Williams families; and while the
men of these families were noted for their position and in-
fluence in public and political life, the ladies of their house-
276
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
holds were none the less famous for their personal charms and
gracious hospitality. They still represented the characteristic
manners and social customs of Old Hallowell of which they
were once a part.
A few pleasant tributes to these grand dames of yore have
been left on record. *'Madame North," it is said, ''was a lady
of the old school. She had a good person, a cultivated
mind, dignified and graceful manners, and, being remarkable for
her powers of conversation, was the delight of the social circle.
Her sprightly and spirited remarks, in tones that were music
to the ear, were particularly pleasant and animating. Under
her direction the home of the Norths was the seat of elegant
hospitality."
Mrs. Susanna Cony, the wife of Judge Daniel Cony, was a
woman whose innate goodness, wide sympathies, and large-
hearted kindliness took in an extensive circle of friends and
acquaintances, by whom she was greatly beloved. Her
portrait is expressive of her character. Fortunate were those
of our foremothers who enjoyed her friendship and social
companionship.
But among all the women of the Kennebec valley, none
were more noted for their hospitality than Mrs. Zilpha
Ingraham Williams, the wife of Lieutenant Seth Williams.
With her, hospitality became a ruling passion; and in her later
years, her generosity was such that no visitor was ever
permitted to leave her door without a farewell gift. This love
of giving at last predominated to such an extent that books,
pictures, bric-a-brac, or family heirlooms, were cordially be-
stowed upon the departing guest; and it became generally
understood by the family friends that all gifts bestowed by the
dear kindly hands should be gratefully accepted, and as con-
siderately left in the front hall to serve the generous-hearted
hostess on another day.
Mrs. Eliza Fuller, the daughter of Mrs. Zilpha Ingraham
Williams, inherited her mother's benevolent and hospitable
disposition, and the doors of the fine old colonial mansion in
which she dwelt were always open to the guest. Mrs. Fuller,
however, was not content to serve merely as hostess in her own
Hon. ReueIv Wili^iams
Social Life of Old Hallow ell
277
house, but carried her benevolent ministries into the homes of
others, where, in joy or sorrow, in sickness or health, in
prosperity or misfortune, she was always a welcome friend.
Her long life was one of kindliness, charity, and unfailing
friendship.
In 1832, Mrs. Daniel Williams, the daughter of the Hon.
James Bridge, went as a bride to the fine old Williams house on
Myrtle Street. She was then young and beautiful, and her
home was one of the most attractive in the social circles of the
Kennebec. Many tributes to the charms of Mrs. Williams
might be quoted ; but the story of the spontaneous compliment
of a gallant Southerner is of especial interest because it was as
sincere as it was unpremeditated. The scene of the incident is
laid in a hotel parlor in Boston, where the Hon. John Otis of
Hallowell and a gentleman from the South once chanced to be
sitting together, engaged in a spirited discussion as to the com-
parative beauty and personal attractions of the women of the
North and South. The Southerner wagered a basket of
champagne that Mr. Otis could not prove his assertion that the
women of the North fully equalled those of the South in beauty
of face, grace of figure, and charm of manner. Mr. Otis
accepted the challenge. Just at that moment, Mrs. Daniel
Williams of Augusta entered the room. Mr. Otis, who was
acquainted with Mrs. Williams, asked permission to present his
friend. After a few minutes of conversation, Mrs. Williams
arose and took her departure. As she passed out of the room,
the Southern gentleman gazed after her with admiring eyes^
and then said: "Mr. Otis, you need not trouble to order that
champagne."
The most elegant old-time residence in Augusta was that
of the Hon. Reuel Williams who, about 1809, purchased the
mansion, built by Colonel Arthur Lithgow. This house still
retains its fine old-time characteristics, chief among which is the
beautiful octagon room, with its antique furnishings, and its curi-
ous Parisian wall-paper on which is pictured a series of mar-
velous tropical scenes portraying the wonderful adventures of
that doughty old hero. Captain Cook. Mrs. Reuel Williams, the
mistress of the mansion, was the daughter of Judge Daniel and
278 Old Hallo we II on the Kennebec
Susanna Cony. She was a very handsome woman of impos-
ing presence and stately mien. She had seen much of society
at the national Capitol, while her husband was a member of the
United States Senate, and she was a brilliant and charming
hostess in her own home, where many distinguished guests,
including President Polk and James Buchanan, Secretary of
State, were hospitably entertained.
On one occasion, however, a delightful dinner-party was
given at the Williams mansion without the presence of its
distinguished hostess, who at the time of its occurrence chanced
to be away from home. A letter describing this formal and
elegant dinner-party is still extant, an extract from which is
here given as an illustration of the old-time social life on the
Kennebec.
This letter was written by the Hon. Joseph H. Williams,
son of Hon. Reuel Williams, to his sister, Mrs. Helen A.
Oilman of Portland, on June 28, 1839.
*' It seems that Mr. Forsyth [then Secretary of State],
arrived at Gardiner last week and has made his abode at Mr.
Gardiner's. Father was invited to dine at Mr. Gardiner's on
Tuesday at three o'clock to meet him, but Mr. Forsyth was not
able to be at the table. Yesterday Father gave his dinner
party. I suppose you will want to know all about i'^. First I
will tell you who were present. Grandfather Cony with his
Hancock gown. General John Chandler, Mr. Jones, Mr.
Richards, Governor F. [Fairfield], Dr. Nourse, Judge Fuller,
Major Ripley, General Thompson, and James Bridge. Of
course we were all disappointed in not seeing Mr. Forsyth.
He, however, sent a very civil note with apologies. Our dinner
went off well. First, soup, (calves head), which was very well
flavored and rich. Second, boiled salmon and broiled ditto.
Third, most delicious boiled mutton of the true John Pinkham
stamp; and roast lamb with green peas (from Boston). Then
the cloth was removed. (Wine, of course, all this time). Next
came the pastry which was some of Aunt Martha's best. I
can't name the varieties, but there were lots of puddings
Social Life of Old Hallowell 279
and pies. Next the dessert made up of strawberries, cherries,
ice cream, figs and apples, and the usual varieties of dry fruit.
Stewart was the factotum and managed his department very
acceptably. Jane, Zilpha, and Ann were the ladies. The
gentlemen were all very agreeable, and I know had a good time.
I had Richards on my left, and found him a clever fellow with-
out starch. Father took great interest in getting up the whole
affair, directed as to everything, down to the number of table
cloths, and the arrangement of the seats at the table. He sat
not at the head or foot of the table, as that was not genteel,
but at the side, in the middle, and Jane opposite."
This memorable dinner was served in the grand octagon
room of the Williams mansion. The "Hancock gown," in
which ''Grandfather Cony" appeared, was a green brocaded
silk coat that had been previously worn by the honorable Judge
when a guest at the state-dinners of Governor Hancock in
Boston. The ladies present at the table, were the three
charming daughters of the house, Jane, who was afterwards the
wife of Rev. Sylvester Judd; Zilpha, who married John
Cutler, Esq., and who was the mother of Mrs. Zilpha Ingraham
Smith, the present hostess of the Williams mansion ; and Ann,
the youngest daughter, who occupied the family residence
until her death in 1907.
Another home on the Kennebec where a generous and
delightful hospitality was constantly dispensed was that of Mr.
James Dumaresq on Swan Island. Mr. James Dumaresq
inherited an old colonial house built by his maternal grand-
father. Dr. Silvester Gardiner. This house was located in a
most picturesque spot on the upper shore o^ the island. It
was surrounded by magnificent old trees and commanded a
fine view of the river. Mr. and Mrs. James Dumaresq were a
delightful host and hostess. Mrs. Dumaresq was very hand-
some, tall, and of a most delicate complexion. Her daughter.
Miss Jane Frances Rebecca Dumaresq, was known as the
**Beauty of the Kennebec." It is said of her that "she was as
28o
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
brave as she was beautiful and as courteous and gentle as a long"
line of ancestors of DeCarterets and Dumaresqs could make her."
Mr. Dumaresq has been described by one who knew
him as "a man of charming address and polished manners,
a good musician, a true lover of poetry and the English
classics, and a keen sportsman. He was a warm friend of Mr.
John Sheppard of Hallowell, with whom he had many tastes in
common. In a letter to Augustus T. Perkins, Esq., Mr.
Sheppard writes: *'The house of Mr. Dumaresq was the
abode of hospitality. I used to visit there with my father
almost as early as I can recollect. We went down in summer
in our sail-boat, and sometimes made only a call or an excursion
to the mouth of the Kennebec. . . . When a student at law
in Wilde and Bond's office, on a summer's day, I remember
paddling my birch canoe along the shore to Swan Island ; and
in the winter season, one afternoon, Mr. P. (Page), since a
noted merchant, and myself skated down to your grand-
father's, drank tea with him, and then hurried home on account
of the air holes in the ice — a distance of sixteen miles in one
hour and a half." Mr. Dumaresq used often to visit the
Sheppards in the old red house that stood in the bend of the
river just below Bombahook Point; and frequently made much
longer journeys in these neighborly visits, for "it was the
custom at Kennebec in the winter of those congenial days for
parties living in distant towns often many miles from each
other, to visit their friends in flocks and sometimes pass the
night."
The father of Mrs. Dumaresq was Mr. Farwell of Vassal-
borough. "A sleighing party to his house," writes Mr.
Sheppard, "and a return after tea from Augusta on the ice are
fresh in my mind, for our parents often took their children
with them. It was one of those splendid winter nights so
peculiar to Maine; when the blue starry heavens above, and
the white drapery of the snow below, increased the charm of
such an excursion. A sleighride of sixteen miles to Swan
Island was but the pastime of an evening."
"At Pittston, there was a white cottage near the head of a
leafy avenue, musical with birds. It was the summer retreat
Social Life of Old Hallowell 281
of the venerable Robert Hallowell, Esq., ^ of Boston, a great
friend of my father. We often went down there to dine on
pleasant Sundays after attending the Episcopal church on the
other side of the river. On the opposite shore in Gardiner
near the ferry, once stood a yellow one story and a half house
where General Dearborn, secretary of war under Jackson,
resided."
Just below Gardiner on the west bank of the river stood
the home of Robert H. Gardiner, built in 1809. This was not
the picturesque stone manor-house of to-day, but was a large,
commodious dwelling presided over by a delightful host. In
regard to this residence of Robert H. Gardiner, Bishop
Burgess writes: "For twenty-three years, spacious as it was,
its chambers were crowded with the succession of inmates and
guests, whom, in addition to his own immediate household he
always loved to gather within the circle of his domestic
affection, his beneficence, or his hospitality."
The Vaughans were connected with the Hallowells, the
Gardiners, and the Dumaresqs by ties of kinship; and the
interchange of hospitalities between them, and between the
other prominent families on the Kennebec, served to promote
all that was best in social life.
Other social guests of high estate frequently visited Hal-
lowell. "The white house on the hill," writes the Hon. John
H. Sheppard, "was the abode of hospitality. ... It was
furnished in costly style but simple; there was no gorgeous
display; everything was plain yet elegant for the day. In
summer there was a continual succession of visitors from
abroad ; for the celebrity of Dr. Vaughan as a scholar, and his
urbanity as a gentleman of fortune drew many from other
lands to visit the philospher in his romantic villa on the banks
of the Kennebec. At the June session of the^' Supreme Court
^ Robert Hallowell, Esq., was the son of Benjamin Hallowell, a wealthy merchant
of Boston, and one of the proprietors of the Kennebec purchase. He married Hannah,
daughter of Dr. Silvester Gardiner. Their son, Robert Hallowell, changed his name to
Gardiner when he came into possession of the estate of his grandfather, Dr. Silvester
Gardiner. The Hallowells vrere of ancient English ancestry, and were descended from
William Hallowell, of Devonshire, England, who settled in Boston before the close of
the seventeenth century.
282
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
of Massachusetts, the Judges and their suit anticipated with
joy their visit to him. The profound Parsons, that giant of
the common law; the learned Sedgwick, and the Ciceronian
Parker, successively Chief Justices, were among his guests; and
who could forget the eloquent solicitor, General Daniel Davis,
father of Charles Henry Davis, our distinguished Admiral of
the Navy, or the logical Mellen, or the noble Wilde, then at
the head of the bar of Maine, and many other kindred spirits,
men of rank in their day and generation. The society in
Kennebec and Lincoln was of a high order, and many distin-
guished gentry were among his social visitors, — persons whose
influence has never been surpassed, if indeed equaled in that
part of the country. It was there too I saw that great scholar
and admirable reader, the Rev. John Silvester John Gardiner,
D. D., Rector of Trinity Church, Boston, whose peculiarly
black and piercing eyes seemed to look into the very soul
when he spoke ; one whose classic taste was almost without a
rival in America, and whose great memory and attic wit gave a
peculiar fascination to his conversation. But where shall I
stop, if I venture to repeat the names of such guests; for
before my mind's eye rise up that truly Christian disciple,
the Rev. Charles Lowell, and the learned Dr. Kirkland,
whose placid smile will long be remembered; and that pre-
cocious and extraordinary young divine Mr. J. S. Buckminster,
who once preached to us a thrilling discourse from this sublime
text: 'Never man spoke like this man'; and this was uttered
by a Unitarian in our Hopkinsian pulpit. ... I must
refer once more to our visitors from abroad for it was
at this mansion I saw the handsomest woman I ever beheld,
Mrs. Richard Derby, of Boston, in whose lovely expression
there was a shade of melancholy resembling the Madonna, so
finely pictured by the divine Raphael to the imagination."
The most notable, although perhaps not the most worthy
or most highly-to-be-honored guest of Old Hallowell in its early
days was the French statesman, Talleyrand. It is stated by
North in the History of Augusta, that in the year 1794, Talley-
rand in company with a young Frenchman came to Hallowell,
and was entertained at the tavern of Billy Pitt ; that Talleyrand
Social Life of Old Hallow ell
283
and his young friend dined with Mrs. Colonel North and her
son, and visited Mr. Charles Vaughan at the mill-house near
Bombahook brook. These distinguished guests were also enter-
tained by Judge Robbins, at the Hook. The story is also told,
on the authority of Judge Weston, that ''many years after-
wards, Judge Robbins sent a son abroad to finish his medical
education in Paris. It was soon after the restoration of the
Bourbons ; Talleyrand was in high favor and in the most palmy
state of his brilliant career. He heard of young Robbins; and
desirous to repay in Paris, civilities received in Hallowell,
invited him to dine, placed him at table between two ladies of
high rank, and otherwise treated him with marked attention." ^
The date of the visit of Talleyrand at Hallowell, is fixed
by North in the year 1794. Hanson, in his History of Gardiner
also states that, in 1794, Talleyrand and Louis Philippe visited
General Dearborn in Gardiner; but, according to historic
records, the Orleans princes did not arrive in America until
October 25, 1796. Our local chronicles must therefore be
wrong, at least, as to the date of Louis Philippe's visit. An
author, ^ who has made an exhaustive study of the experience
of Louis Philippe in the United States, writes that "on October
21, 1797, The Boston Press announced the arrival of the
princes in that city. . . . With Talleyrand they made a trip
to Maine, stopping at Newburyport and Haverhill. For a week
they were guests at the Martin farm, on the Sagamore Creek,
near Portsmouth. At Gardiner, their host was General Henry
Dearborn."
It would seem highly probable, that if Louis Philippe came
as far as Gardiner, he would not have failed to visit the dis-
tinguished Dr. Benjamin Vaughan; and it was currently
reported that both Talleyrand and Louis Philippe were guests
at the Vaughan mansion in Hallowell. This report passed into
a generally accepted tradition, and the Hallowell boys and girls
have since been brought up in the belief that the royal prince
tramped through the Vaughan glen, and fished in the Cascade
stream; and that he fell into the brook and got a thorough
^ North's History of Augusta, p. 255.
2 Jane Marsh Parker. Century Magazine, Vol. 40, p, 756.
284
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
wetting, just as Ingraham has related in one of the best of his
unhistoric stories. But, in the face of all this presumptive
evidence, the inexorable spirit of the truthful historian compels
me to say that a granddaughter of Dr. Vaughan, who confirms
the story of the visit of Talleyrand, distinctly states that the
family have no proof that his companion was the royal prince,
afterwards Louis Philippe of France.
The story of the visit of Talleyrand and Louis Philippe is
familiar to all the old residents of Hallowell; but it is not so
generally known that a nephew of Marshal Ney was once a
guest in Hallowell. During his visit, this young Frenchman
suffered from a severe illness and received the professional
attendance of the eminent physician, Dr. Benjamin Page.
After his recovery and return to France, young Ney sent a very
generous gift of money to Dr. Page, in acknowledgment of his
professional services, with a most grateful and appreciative
letter which was long preserved in the Page family.
Another somewhat remarkable person, who visited Hal-
lowell about 1823, has left to us a curious and entertaining
record of the place and its inhabitants. This eccentric visitor
was Mrs. Anne Royall, one of the earliest book agents who ever
traveled through our state. She was a native of Virginia, but
had resided for a number of years in Washington, where she
became well known as the editor of the Washington Paul Pry.
She was the author of several books of travel, in which she
shows herself to be a keen observer, and a merciless critic, with
a sharp, satirical tongue. She was an ardent Unitarian, and
saw no good in people of any other persuasion. Anyone who
was a devoted Unitarian, who was polite to her, and who
purchased her books, received her warm commendation; but
woe to those who did not meet with these requisitions ! They
were destined to be stigmatized forever in the Black Book of
which Mrs. Royall was the author. A few copies of this publi-
cation still exist; and we read with much interest the impres-
sions of Hallowell and its citizens as recorded by Mrs. Anne
Royall.
Hallowell," writes Mrs. Royall, "is a port of entry and has
much trade. I was surprised to see a beautiful, thriving,
Social Life of Old Hallowell
285
populous town so far in the interior; fine, large brick houses,
vessels in the basin, a fine prospect, and an immense number
of genteel people in the street. Like all towns on the
Kennebec, its length is parallel with the river, and its width
embraces a lofty rise ascending quite from the river until it
attains a very considerable eminence. On the top of this
eminence, a greater part of the town is built. Most of the
merchants and all of the wealthy citizens live on this eleva-
tion, and their houses, furniture, and equipage display a
superior style of taste, wealth, and elegance. Their homes
mostly have gardens attached to them of inimitable beauty, nor
do the owners yield to any on the continent, in hospitality and
polished manners. Kennebec is principally settled by en-
lightened Unitarians and Universalists who carry souls in their
bodies.
"I arrived in Hallowell on Saturday night, and early
Sunday morning, or at least after breakfast, several of the
citizens honored me with a call and invited me to take a
seat in one of the pews of Rev. Everett's church, a Unitarian,
of course. The church was large and the congregation con-
sisted principally of the first citizens of the place. It was the
handsomest congregation I remember to have seen in any
country; both men and women were fine tall figures, fair and
well featured, with a nameless mixture of flitting graces and
thronging charms — the waving form, the sparkling eye, the
glossy curl, the jetty tufts of hair, the generous manly cheek,
the snowy forehead, the soft damask blush. But above all,
the kind glance of friendship and classic fire, — it was
impossible to resist them." ^
Whatever Mrs. Roy all's literary sins may have been, and
they appear to have been many, Hallowell cap surely forgive
her much for this tribute to the place and the people. The
account of her visit at Dr. Benjamin Vaughan's is equally
characteristic.
"But the pride of Hallowell is the venerable and wealthy
Mr. Vaughan, an English nobleman who has vast possessions
The Black Book. Vol. II, p. 256-258.
286
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
both in this country and Europe. . . . Mr. Vaughan is, with
his wife, far advanced in hfe, — shrouded in humihty, meekness,
and philanthropy. Their large fortune is principally devoted
to the benefit of mankind. Relieving the poor, enlightening
the ignorant, and promoting the public good has been the
business and pride of the long life of Mr. Vaughan. He has
been the bulwark of the Unitarians in America, and the
champion of arts and sciences, a friend of liberty. This
amiable man, modest and plain in his equipage, I found on the
banks of the Kennebec. My curiosity being aroused I called
at his house. He opened the door himself, and making one of
his 'St. James' bows,' (as I conjecture, for I never saw any-
thing like it before nor since,) he asked me to walk in and
showing me into a parlour, instead of ringing for a servant, and
overturning everything, he apologized and walked off himself
for Mrs. Vaughan. After introducing Mrs. Vaughan, he took
a seat and entered familiarly into conversation. Several
called while I was there, attending to which must- be very
oppressive to a gentleman of Mr. V's age and delicate appear-
ance. That I might enjoy the pleasure of their company the
very short time I had to spare, a small table covered with
every delicacy was set by my chair without suffering me to
move."
In conclusion, Mrs. Royall adds: *'Mr. Vaughan ac-
companied me to the door and while his illustrious eye rested
upon me he put a bank note into my hand." ^
Mrs. Royall was also moved to speak of other residents
of Hallowell as ''people of education and family, kind and
hospitable, and affable in their manners." She called upon
the family of the Baptist minister, the Rev. Mr. Chessman,
and was "much surprised to find the lady and her daughter
most charming women." "I do not believe," she writes, "that
there is a spark of the orthodox about them."
The author of the Black Book was evidently not so well
pleased with her reception at Augusta as at Hallowell, but the
reason is very apparent in her statement that Augusta "has
I The Black Book. Vol. II, p. 258-260.
Social Life of Old Hallowell
287
until lately been an orthodox town and, of course, not so
much can be expected of it." She closes the account of her
visit with this somewhat invidious passage: "I am told that
the legislature of the state is about to locate the seat of
government at Augusta. I am sorry the citizens are not more
worthy of the distinction. Had I a casting vote, I would by a
long ways give the preference to Hallowell, as different as two
places can possibly be. In Hallowell, they are, we may say, all
gentlemen."
Among the most interesting and noteworthy men that
frequently came to Hallowell was Charles Bulfinch, the
eminent architect who made the designs for the completion of
the national Capitol at Washington, for the State House at
Boston, for the State Capitol at Augusta, Maine, and for many
other famous public buildings. It was, doubtless, during one
of his visits at "Sunset Farm," the residence of Charles
Vaughan, Esq., that Mr. Bulfinch designed the belfry-tower of
the Old South meeting-house. At a somewhat later period,
Nathaniel Hawthorne and his friend and classmate, Horatio
Bridge of Augusta, were frequently entertained in Hallowell.
The Rev. Phillips Brooks, when a boy, often visited at the
home of his uncle, Thomas B. Brooks, on Second Street; and
Cornelius Vanderbilt, in the early days of steamboating en-
joyed the hospitaUty of the Pages and other prominent
families.
The Hon. George Evans was also very frequently a guest
in his native town. This eminent statesman and member of
Congress was born in Hallowell, January 12, 1797. He was
the second child of Daniel and Joanna Hains Evans whose
family record appears inscribed upon the ancient town books.
George Evans spent his boyhood and yout'h in his native
town, fitted for college at the Hallowell Academy, graduated
from Bowdoin in 1815, and was admitted to the bar in 1818;
and although he subsequently resided elsewhere, he may be
claimed as one of the illustrious sons of Old Hallowell.
Many warm tributes were paid to Mr. Evans by his
contemporaries. He is said to have been a great lawyer,
288
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
who "never mistook an enemy's outpost for his citadel." He
was an eloquent orator and an acute statesman, and his
speeches in Congress on the tariff and revenue disclosed his
mastery of the most important measures in the history of our
government. Mr. Clay asserted that "Mr. Evans knew more
about the finances than any other public man in the United
States." "As a debater/' writes Mr. Blaine, "Mr. Evans is
entitled to rank next to Mr. Webster," ^ and when Mr. Evans'
term of service drew near to its close, Mr. Webster paid him
the extraordinary commendation of saying in the senate that
his retirement would be "a serious loss to the government and
the country." He pronounced the speech just then delivered
by Mr. Evans on the finances to be "incomparable." ^
Upon occasions of public interest in Hallowell, Mr.
Evans was often the orator of the day; and when the town
had the honor of a visit from Daniel Webster, Mr. Evans
was invited to make the address of welcome. It is recorded by
the Hon. Robert Hallowell Gardiner 3 that "at a v-ery short
notice a magnificent dinner was prepared at the Hallowell
House, then just opened and carried on by Kilburne Robinson,
in the style of the Tremont and Revere Houses. Prominent
persons from Augusta, Hallowell, Gardiner, and Portland were
present to do honor to Mr. Webster. The time of this dinner
was at the moment of his greatest glory, — not long after his
great and memorable contest in the senate with Hayne of
South Carolina, upon the constitution. When the cloth was
removed, a crowd was collected in expectation of a speech
from the great expounder. Mr. Evans, who presided at the
table, rose to express a hearty welcome from Kennebec to
the distinguished guest. Most unfortunately, no report of this
speech has ever been published; for such an outpouring of
eloquence for at least an hour, has seldom been heard and
those who were privileged to listen to it can never forget it.
In the course of his speech he quoted whole passages from
Scott's Ivankoe, where Rebecca at the window describes to the
* Twenty Years of Congress, Vol. I, p. 71.
2 Ibid.
Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Vol. VII, p. 470.
Social Life of Old Hallowell
289
wounded Ivanhoe the operations of the besiegers of the castle ;
and as she relates the exploits of the Black Knight, Richard
Coeur de Lion, wielding the massive battle axe, Ivanhoe
exclaims, 'Methought there was but one man in England that
might do such a deed.' Applying this in a masterly manner
to Webster's blows against the enemies of the constitution, and
carrying on the simile, every moment rising in eloquence, he
utters Ivanhoe's exclamation, 'I would endure ten years
captivity to fight one day by that good knight's side, in such a
quarrel as this.' At the conclusion of this eloquent address,
Mr. Webster rose and evinced by his manner how much he had
been affected by it. He spoke for some time, but although
everything uttered by Mr. Webster always commanded the
closest attention, yet, following, as it did, this remarkable
address of Mr. Evans, many of his hearers were disappointed."
Other tales of the hospitality of Hallowell, and of its dis-
tinguished guests abound; but from these authentic sketches
we are able to evolve a distinct and accurate picture of the
social life of the ancient town. Host and hostess have long
since passed away; guest and wayfarer have alike departed;
but the visions of these old-time gentle-folk still linger in our
memories like the stars of the "Dream-Song,"
"That, at some silent, dim behest,
Arise above the river,
To shine upon its darkling breast,
Forever and forever."
/
XVIII
ROMANTIC, QUAINT, AND INTERESTING
CHARACTERS
"The few old-fashioned men and women — quaint, shrewd, and
racy of the soil — who linger in little, silvery-gray old homesteads will
shortly cease to exist." — Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
HE local conditions and environments of Hallowell,
in the olden days, were such as were productive of
many romantic, quaint, and interesting characters
whose story adds much to the interest of the old town.
At this early period, the individuality of every villager stood
out with marked prominence. Personal traits and charac-
teristics were often unduly emphasized, and any weakness or
peculiarity of the individual easily became exaggerated. In
our own day, so crowded with multitudinous and overwhelming
interests, no one has time to dwell upon the idiosyncrasies of
his neighbor; but, of old, any manifestation of oddity was
immediately noted, and by its very recognition was developed
and perpetuated. Moreover, the last faint shadows of super-
stition lingered still upon our hills and valleys, reluctant to
depart; and an openly acknowledged love of the romantic
and marvelous everywhere prevailed. We have, consequently,
not a few stories of the olden times which border upon
legendary lore, and many other veritable records of curious and
interesting characters that developed in Old Hallowell.
One of these earlier local characters, whose story borders
on the marvelous, was an old man, called "Uncle Kaler," who
lived on Loudon Hill. Uncle Kaler had Finnish blood in his
veins and was reputed to be a "wizard." By his magical art,
Uncle Kaler could make amulets that would bring good luck
to the sailor, love philters for despairing swains and forlorn
damsels, and efficacious potions to cure the cattle that were
bewitched. This weird enchanter could also make good weather
The Wizard of Loudon Hill
291
or bad weather to order, although he sometimes overdid the
matter, as the following tradition shows.
Uncle Kaler lived in an old house just below the mill-
brook, and the road from Cobbossee to the Hook ran close by
his door. One warm misty evening in May, Uncle Kaler
heard some horses speeding up the hill and stopping at his door.
He opened it, and a man's voice came in from the darkness:
"Is this Mr. Kaler?"
"It is, at your service."
"Well, my name is , and this lady with me is Miss
of Pownalboro. We are on our way to Hallowell to be
married. Her relatives don't like the match and are after us
hot foot. Listen!"
Away down the river could be heard the long-drawn bay
of hounds.
"You hear, old man! Now our horses are about used up,
and if something isn't done they will overtake us; then there
will be murder. You have the reputation of being a wind-
jammer and wizard. Here are a hundred Spanish milled
dollars for the worst weather you have got, and if it does the
business, another hundred when I come back."
The old man made no reply, but went to a chest and
taking out a small leather bag gave it to the stranger, saying,
"Go back a little on the road, cut open the bag, squeeze out its
contents, throw the bag away, then come back and resume
your journey."
The man did as he was told, and returning in a short
time said: "If you have played us false, something will
happen to you."
"Rest easy," said Uncle Kaler. "Hark!" and away in
the southwest was heard a low grumbling like 4istant thunder.
It increased and deepened momentarily till it seemed as if
a cyclone was tearing through the forest.
"What is it.?" asked the stranger.
"A cloud-burst in the hills. It will be a sharp hound who
follows your track in five minutes. Go in peace, and good
luck go with you, from a man who can make good luck."
Away they dashed through the gathering storm and
292 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
darkness, speeding to happiness, or the contrary, as the case
may be with married people. Under the roaring thunder, and
nearly deafened by the roar and crash of the raging torrent he
had conjured, the old man went into the house saying to
himself: "I am afraid I made that bagful too strong, but I
don't know as I am sorry, for it would never do to have the
young people caught."
The next morning the day broke clear and beautiful; but
where, the day before, a peaceful little brook had flowed
through a green pasture, and the little mill had clattered
merrily grinding the few grists the neighbors brought, there
was now a fearful gorge gullied down to the bedrock and
choked up with uprooted trees and brush ; the mill was gone
and the big boulder that formed a part of its foundation had
been swept away far out into the river, and now forms that
impediment to navigation known as Mill Rock. If anyone will
take notice at low tide they will see quite a large point stretch-
ing out into the river from the mouth of the brook; it is the
debris of the cloud-burst."'
The lovers of the weird element in story-telling and of
mysteries that never were solved will understand the thrill of
mingled delight and terror with which the children of Hal-
lowell used to listen to the tales of the "Unknown Meeting-
house Beggar," and of the mysterious "Man of Ice."
The meeting-house beggar was a nameless old man who,
accompanied by his dog, made his appearance in town, coming
from whence none knew. He seemed disinclined to com-
panionship, talked little, refused rum, and thankfully received
gifts of food from the charitable. He existed in this way
more than a year, no one knowing more of him — not even
where he slept. One day his dog came to the door of a house
where his master had often been fed, and by his strange
conduct induced someone to follow him. He led the way to
the Old South and disappeared suddenly through an opening
in the underpinning. Looking in, the person dimly discerned
the figure of a man lying upon some shavings. Entering, he
I " Van Ho." Loudon Hill.
The Man of Ice
293
found the poor old mendicant dead. The beggar was buried
and there was never any knowledge of his previous history.
The dog never left the place of his owner's death save
occasionally to go for a bone to the place where the beggar
had been accustomed to have his wants supplied, and then to
run back to his lonely retreat. For years he made this place
his abode, refusing all intercourse with his own or human
species. He grew gray and almost blind. At length this
canine recluse was missed, and a search revealed him dead
where his master had expired twelve years before. He was
always called the "meeting-house dog." ^
The true tale of the mysterious *'Man of Ice" has been
effectively retold, by the "Old Bookseller" to "Amoret," in
the story of The End of the Beginnings from which the follow-
ing extracts are quoted, by permission of the author : ^
"The night grew darker and darker, and the wind roared
louder, while thicker and faster fell the sharp sleet that cut
like needles. And just think of it! All alone with the
winter weather, trying to cross the river, was a withered and
bent old man. Staggering along, he had to stop every half-
dozen steps, to catch his breath, and to hunt for the path that
grew harder and harder to find and keep. Getting a glimpse
of the light in one of the houses on the hill, he would stop and
call for help; a hopeless dreary call that hardly served to
make any louder the shriek of the blast that took it from him.
His hat was gone, and his poor thin gray hair was whisked
about in the wind; and his torn old coat flapped round him,
threatening every minute to fly off in the darkness. Oh, dear!
As he went dragging slowly along, shivering in his rags,
falling again and again, his face bleeding from the sharp cut of
the sleet, the old fellow would have been 2^ sorry sight, if
anybody had been there to see. But the old man had with
him a friend, the friend that had broken his wife's heart ; the
friend that had scattered his children among strangers; the
friend for whose sake he had given up love, honor, happiness,
* Rev. J. H. Ingraham.
2 Professor Charles F. Richardson.
294
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
and who had now driven him a homeless wanderer, out into
the night and storm. This friend he pressed now and again
with eager Hps, or hugged closely with his stiff, blue fingers
and aching arms, while the storm grew wilder, and his own
little strength failed more and more with each icy gust."
"Why didn't his friend help him.?" said Amoret. "I
think it was real wicked."
"You'll see," said the story-teller, coming back to the
intelligence of his hearer.
"At any rate, as he stumbled and picked himself up again
and again, alone with his jug in the fearful night, he kept
muttering all the while. What did he think, little girl, if he
could think, and what did he say, when at last with a sigh of
relief, he sank back to rest a little.? Perhaps, like Falstaff of
old, 'a' babbled of green fields.' "
"Was his friend nothing but a jug.?" queried the wide-
awake listener. "And who was Falstaff.?"
"I'll tell you sometime," said he; "one story at a time."
"As the night wore on the storm raged itself out; the
wind sank to a sort of little moan; and the sleet became just
a cold, dull, straight pouring rain that froze as it fell. . . .
When morning dawned you never saw such a pretty picture.
. . . It was just as though you had been suddenly trans-
ported to a new planet where there was no warmth, no color,
nothing but clear, cold, glittering purity. Why, hills and
fields and river lay smooth and white, with millions of little
sparkles of light on the icy crust, while every tiny twig of
every bush and tree, all snug in its perfect coat of ice, looked
as if crusted with diamonds. The whole world was one great
jewel that lay flashing and glowing in the rays of the morning
sun. . . .
"All at once a quiver of excitement was spread through
the village by the announcement made by the many small boys
who had their faces glued to the window panes, that an ox-
team was coming up the hill. Such a Sabbath sight wasn't
common in that old-fashioned community, and so everyone
wondered what it could mean. And folks wondered still more
when, as the team came nearer, they saw the slow oxen draw-
Lord Echlin
295
ing a woodsled with something on it covered by a horse-
blanket. As it came nearer, the men found they had business
that called them to the front gate; but those who asked,
*What ye got there?' only received for answer from the
walkers beside the team: 'Ye'll see at the meetin '-house.'
''When the team finally got there, and the men lifted
their queer burden and placed it on the great horse-block,
those who came behind could see a sudden stir among the
folks already gathered. They moved rapidly to and fro, and
pointed, and asked eager questions that no man could answer.
All that anybody could say, was: '*We found him on the river,
and we brought him to meetin' to see if anybody knowed him.'
*So, when each new-comer got to the edge of the crowd,
he hurried out a 'What is it?' and got for an answer a silent
gesture toward the centre of the group, while the bystanders
fell back and opened the way for him to see a sight he never
forgot. . . . There, before the meeting-house door, lay a
ragged old man, his gray hair spread round his head like a halo,
and his thin old arms clasping a jug close to his shrunken
body.
"Who he was, whence he came, whither he was going,
nobody knew. But surely this forlorn old drunkard died as no
other has ever been known to die : for as he lay there on the
hillside, and preached a never-to-be-forgotten sermon, his
wretched body was hermetically sealed in a coffin that
glittered clear and pure in the brilliant sunlight ; a coffin as
transparent as air, as cold as death — a coffin of ice!"
Side by side with the eminent citizens of Hallowell, in
those olden days, were many humbler, but perhaps not less
interesting neighbors whose stories, if they could be told,
would add much to the romance of these brie^ reminiscences.
Among these was "Lord Echlin" who kept a cooper's shop,
in front of the town pump, on School House lane. Had
Hawthorne chanced to meet "Lord Echlin," what would he not
have made of him in the domain of romance! The veil of
mystery which still hangs over this titled lord of the cooper's
trade would have appealed very strongly to Hawthorne's art.
296
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Lord Echlin claimed to be a titled Englishman. He
came to Hallowell with his family from Canada, and, according
to the old story, took up his abode here while his son went to
England to establish some claim to title or estates. The son
was drowned on the return voyage from Europe to America;
the beautiful young daughter also died and was buried in the
old Hallowell burying-ground. Lord Echlin lived on, with
Lady Ann, earning a scanty living by the cooper's trade until
in some mysterious way they both passed out of the knowledge
and memory of the people. Whether they sailed away across
the sea, or whether they too died and were buried, there is no
one to tell. But in the Hallowell cemetery, there stands a
marble tombstone bearing this inscription:
Sacred to the memory of
Miss Sarah
Daughter of
Sir Henry and Ann Echlin
Who died
May 28, 1823
Aged 16 years
Also
To the memory of
Sir Chembre Echlin
Who was drowned on his passage
From Europe to America.
Far from their friends the body lies
Oh, may their souls in Christ arise.
Here are romance, pathos, and mystery, all wrought into
this brief inscription. Who can tell us the true tale of Lord
and Lady Echlin.?
Another character over whom the halo of mystery for a
long time hung, was **Jimmy the Bugler," who one day
suddenly appeared in Hallowell from the realm of nowhere in
particular. Jimmy announced his arrival by a long musical
blast upon a fine English bugle, which he brought with him
under his weather-worn coat, and then played several lively
Jimmy the Bugler
297
and pleasing airs to the astonished townspeople who gathered
around him. A warm welcome was given to the wonderful
stranger by the people at whose door he had stopped; but
Jimmy the Bugler proved himself to be mortal, for he was very
hungry and did ample justice to the good dinner offered him
in return for his music.
Pleased with his reception, Jimmy decided to remain in the
hospitable town, and soon found a home and employment
with a good farmer who bore the name of Jefferson Davis.
The fame of Jimmy and his wonderful bugle soon spread
abroad, and there were frequent demands for his services on all
festive occasions, especially on muster days when all the
military companies were proud to march to the field with
Jimmy the Bugler at their head; and his martial airs and
marvelous reveille in camp was something long to be remem-
bered.
On one occasion a party of young men made a pleasure
trip to Boston in one of the slow-sailing packets of that day,
and Jimmy the Bugler, who accompanied them, often "set the
wild echoes flying," as they passed down the valley of the
Kennebec. When they arrived in Boston, they decided to
spend their first evening at the theater. For some reason the
actors were very late in appearing upon the stage, the
musicians played until they were quite exhausted. The
audience grew very restless and impatient. There were cries of
"Music! Music!" but the orchestra failed to respond. Then
softly, sweetly, clearly, the notes of a bugle rang out
and thrilled the house. The orchestra was astonished; the
actors behind the curtain peered out in amazement; and when
Jimmy played "The Last Rose of Summer," with variations,
the audience sat at first spell-bound, and then burst into
rapturous applause. Other melodies followed,/ and it was with
difficulty that the people were induced to turn their attention
to the play when the actors appeared upon the stage. "Who
is it.? Who is it.?" was the question all over the house. The
only answer was, "Jimmy the Bugler."
It was afterwards learned that Jimmy the Bugler was
a deserter from the British army, that he had belonged to
298
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
a regimental band at Quebec, but weary of army life, had
slipped away across the border into the peaceful province of
Maine. He remained for some years in Hallowell; but, like
many a youthful genius of his day, he at last fell a victim to
intemperance and died ingloriously at a public inn on the way
between Bangor and Hallowell.
The memory of Jimmy the Bugler was long preserved by
traditions of a pot of money which he was supposed to have
buried on the farm of Jefferson Davis. Jimmy earned many
silver dollars, but was rarely known to spend one. The inference
was that he had an accumulation of money hidden for safety in
the ground; and the earth on the Davis farm was often found
upturned by the treasure-seekers.
Among other interesting personages who frequented Hal-
lowell a hundred years ago, was the majestic and imperious
"Queen of Sheba." This regal character was a mildly de-
mented woman, named Richardson, who wandered about the
country, happy in the delusion that she had come from the
court of Solomon and brought with her all the glories thereof.
The story has often been told of how she once appeared
at the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, which then
held its sittings with great pomp and state at Hallowell, and
took her seat with much dignity beside the presiding judge.
There was consternation on the bench. The sheriff waited
upon the "Queen of Sheba," but she refused to be dethroned;
and not until her majesty pleased, was she induced to leave the
house. Then, followed by the sheriff, an imposing figure, with
his cocked hat, sash and sword, and long white staff of office,
the "Queen of Sheba" walked down the aisle, with head erect
and a majesty of mien which commanded the respect of all
present.
It has been suggested that Thomas Bailey Aldrich may
have taken the name of his charming young "Queen of
Sheba" from this more unfortunate heroine who once sat in
state at the Supreme Judicial Court at Hallowell.
One of the most original and interesting characters of
Old Hallowell was Jonathan Morgan, A. B., known in his
later years as "old Squire Morgan." This remarkable man
Squire Morgan
299
came to Hallowell as a young lawyer, about 1800, "to grow up
with the town." He was a close student, an original thinker,
and an indefatigable worker. His first literary production was
Morgans Grammar of the English Language, printed by
Goodale and Cheever in 1814. This book passed through
several editions, and later grammarians have followed Morgan's
methods which were "sound and good." Some years afterwards,
Morgan made an excellent translation of the New Testament
from the Greek. But the great passion of Squire Morgan's
life was for mechanical invention; and many wonderful
creations originated in his active and fertile brain. Among
the successful and useful articles ascribed to his inventive
genius were the coffee-mills, which had a place in every New
England household, and a cylinder stove, which was pro-
nounced a great improvement upon Ben Franklin's "furnace."
It is also claimed that the first steamboat on the Kennebec
was built by Squire Morgan. About 1820, Squire Morgan
removed to Portland where he continued the practice of law to
an extent sufficient to furnish the means for his experimental
studies in his workshop. He argued his last law case when an
old man of ninety-two years, and won it too ! During his long
and solitary life, he lived respected and above reproach; and
clad in his loose cloak fastened at the neck by chain-links, and
wearing a soft broad-brimmed hat pulled down over his green-
spectacled eyes, he was always a unique and picturesque figure
upon the street.
One of the most conspicuous figures on the streets of Hal-
lowell, in the olden time, was Samuel Manning, the tailor. In
his early and prosperous days, Mr. Manning built a double store
on Water Street, one part of which he occupied in the business
which he here carried on for many years. He was successful in
his trade and accumulated a small propertyl the income of
which would have supported him in his old age had he
continued to practice the habits of economy and sobriety.
Mr. Manning was remarkable for many personal charac-
teristics that won for him the affectionate regard of his
townspeople and acquaintances, but he also possessed certain
peculiarities that soon developed into what, in the phraseology
300
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
of the New England town, is called a "character." He was
well educated and a good conversationalist; a man of keen
intellect, ready wit, and sympathetic personality. He was
a singer of some pretension, and occupied for many years a
conspicuous seat at the end of the line in the front row of the
choir in the Old South meeting-house. He had also military
aspirations, and was very proud of his office as corporal in the
famous Hallowell artillery, at the time it was commanded by
Captain David Gray. The uniform of the company was "a
long-tailed blue coat, with lapels trimmed with buff, dark
pants, and a chapeau in the shape of a half-moon." "Corporal
Manning" we are told, ''^magnified his office^ having all the
pride of a military man, but his short stature causing his coat-
tails to come down to his knees, and his top-heavy chapeau and
long black plume tipped with red, made him a comical looking
object," especially when he marched with "peculiar strut
consequent upon the high and important office of corporal,
a title which he bore many years after his military life had
ended."
Unfortunately, in his later years. Corporal Manning
became somewhat addicted to intemperance. He gave up his
regular business and lived upon the small competence which
he had laid up, and, when this failed, upon the gratuitous
contributions of his friends. At one time he had a corner and
a shelf in one of the printing-offices where he made repairs in
the clothing of chance customers; but he spent much of his
time in visiting at the stores and offices on the business street.
Wherever he went, he was kindly welcomed. A chair in a
warm corner was always waiting for "Uncle Sammy," who, it
must be admitted, did not make his visits over-long or permit
himself to become a bore.
The printing-offices were "Uncle Sammy's" favorite resort.
Here he seems to have constituted himself a sort of Scotch
^*Lob-lie-by-the-fire," foj- whenever he saw a garment that
needed mending or a place where a button should be
sewed on, he quietly and skilfully made the necessary repairs,
but would accept no remuneration for his services. Many
an apprentice lad, away from home, with no mother's hand to
Johnny Stringer
301
mend his trousers, was indebted, for a friendly patch, to the
needle and thread of the once proud and elegant ''Corporal"
Manning.
Mr. Manning maintained his queue, his dignity, his
^ courtesy, and his congenial manners until the time of his death.
W He was never married; and of his family connections, I have
been able to learn nothing except that he had a brother in
Boston who was a printer. During his later years, when his
friends feared that he would lose his entire property by his
habits of intemperance, Mr. Manning was placed under the
guardianship of Mr. Nathan Bachelder. This so injured Mr.
Manning's sense of dignity and self-respect that he would not
H^' recognize Mr. Bachelder, or even go by the store of the latter,
often making a detour around by Second Street rather than
pass by Mr. Bachelder's door. He lived to the age of three-
score years and ten. By some inexplicable apotheosis,
''Corporal" Manning, after his death, became "Captain"
Manning; and his tombstone in the Hallowell cemetery bears
this remarkable and not unenviable inscription:
Captain Samuel Manning
B Died March ist, 1842, aged 70 years
W. An Honest Man.
And then there was Johnny Stringer! Who does not remem-
ber Johnny Stringer — the queer little man with a large head
and body set upon very short legs, who came from over the
sea to make his home in Hallowell 1 Johnny Stringer lived in
a little honse up on Academy Hill where he earned his living
by making and rebottoming chairs, and manufacturing clothes-
pins for the housekeepers of the town. He often appeared, on
Monday morning, with a big basket on his arm offering the
clothespins for sale at the opportune hour w/hen they were
most needed. He also made dolls' cradles and bedsteads, for
the children of the town, for whom he also always had a
store of broken, — and we must add, to be truthful — very dirty
candy in his pockets. But Johnny's masterpieces were his
chairs. He made "big ones for ladies, and little ones for
babies;" and many a home in Hallowell still boasts of its
302
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
"Johnny Stringer chair," which is regarded as a precious
heirloom.
Johnny Stringer was an interesting as well as a useful
member of the community. He possessed unusual intelligence,
a bright mind, and very ready wit. He was fond of jokes; and
merchants, lawyers, and doctors were always ready for a chat or
a tilt of words with Johnny. He was a constant attendant at
the "Old South," where Parson Gillet always found him among
his most attentive and appreciative listeners.
Nor had Johnny's life been without its romance, albeit of
rather a sombre hue. Soon after he came to this country, a
small fortune fell to him from his English relatives, and he
returned to England for his patrimony. On the way back to
America, the vessel in which he sailed was overhauled by some
French craft and all his money taken. This would not have
been so bad for a man of Johnny's optimistic nature; but
unfortunately the lady who had smiled upon Johnny when he
was rich, refused to marry him when he became poor; and
perhaps it was the story of this double tragedy that helped to
make so warm a place for the sunny-hearted old chair-maker
among his friends and neighbors.
Another character, of an original type, was Jack Agry,
who was called the "Walking Street-Thermometer." This
highly reputable gentleman had an unusual dread of the cold.
He was a "great reader," and loved his seat by the chimney
corner. When he ventured out in winter he wore a long
colonial overcoat, big thick mittens, and a cloth cap pulled
down over his ears. It is said that people used to tell the
temperature by the manner in which Jack Agry carried his
arms. In warm weather, he permitted them to hang down
naturally at his side; but with increasing coldness, he raised
them higher and higher, holding them sometimes akimbo,
and sometimes folded at his back. At one time Jack Agry
kept a store; and on one cold January morning he found the
huge keyhole of the door filled with ice. After several
ineffectual efforts to insert the ponderous key in order to
unlock the door, this enterprising business man remarked,
"I guess July will give her a sweat!" and went home to wait for
The Beldens
303
a thaw. It was said that, from that frigid day, Jack Agry
never went back to his place of business.
Another incomprehensible piece of humanity was William
Kendall, "the man who never worked." Kendall was the son
of one of the most highly respected and wealthiest men
of the town. In his youth he was a spendthrift, and on one
occasion, when his father refused to furnish him with money
for some business enterprise, for which he was not deemed
competent, the angry son vowed that he would never do
a stroke of work so long as his father lived. Strange as it may
seem, he kept his word. He secluded himself in his room dur-
ing the day, and at night "would savagely roam the streets
exercising his lungs with wild terrific yells that would fain have
made a Sioux Indian turn pale with envy." Why the town
authorities permitted this disturbance of the peace is not
explained. Kendall received the sobriquet of "Howling Bill,"
or the "Earthquake;" and continued to indulge in this
nocturnal pastime until he was weary of it. He lived the life
of a recluse for twenty years ; and then, on the burial-day of his
father, he emerged from his seclusion. His hair was long, his
beard reached nearly to his waist, and his shapely hands, on
one of which he wore a very handsome seal ring, were as white
and delicate as those of a lady. His mind had not been left
uncultivated; he had read much, and was a brilliant conver-
sationalist. With all his peculiarities, he was apparently a
kind-hearted man. He possessed unusual adaptability in caring
for invalids, and was always glad to give his services to the
sick. For a number of years, he was employed by the town as
night watchman, and, by a curious irony of fate, was required
to expend his energies in suppressing other "howling Bills"
and small "earthquakes" that strove to emulate his own earlier
example. /
Of quite another type, and one peculiarly their own, were
Jonathan and Louisa Belden. The Beldens came of clerical
ancestry. They were the son and daughter of the Rev. Mr.
and Mrs. Belden, both of whom were characterized by some
remarkable mental endowments combined with a naive sim-
plicity of mind. Their children evidently inherited the same
304 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
peculiarities. But whatever the members of this family lacked
in brilliancy they made up in piety and long prayers. Fifty-
five minutes by the clock was not an infrequent time limit, for
one of Mrs. Belden's invocations at the women's meetings.
The daughter, Louisa, was gifted with remarkable powers
of memory; and she was often able to repeat verbatim long
passages from the sermons to which she listened with rapt
attention on the Sabbath. Jonathan first aspired to be a
minister, like his father, but did not receive sufficient encour-
agement from the church. He then aspired to be a poet; and
day after day, and month after month, he wrestled with the
muses. At last, as tradition saith, Jonathan entered his
chamber, closed the door, and vowed a solemn vow that he
would neither eat nor sleep until he had made poetry. The
family waited with bated breath without. Noontide came,
but with no sign from within. The afternoon waned, the sun
went down behind the heights of Powder House hill ; but no
one dared to break the spell that bound the poet's soul. For
an hour, a cheerless supper remained untasted upon the
Belden's board. Then, suddenly, the door was flung open and
the poet emerged radiant and triumphant, wildly waving a
sheet of paper on which was written this Walt-Whitmanesque
stanza :
*'Up in the morn like the hopper-grass!
Down at the eve like the sparrow-grass!"
Jonathan had made poetry !
A more pathetically interesting man was Putnam, the
inventor, who sat in his little shop and worked all day, and far
into the night, on a mysterious piece of machinery which no
one was ever permitted to examine. There were certain weird
and uncanny impressions abroad, which were doubtless
entirely unwarranted, concerning this harmless dreamer of
dreams, in which wheels and axles and endless bands never
ceased to go round; but even the children on their way
to school would peer into his window and remember how some-
body said old Putnam had invented perpetual motion, and was,
perhaps, in league with the sh! And then they would
scuttle away in terror.
Old Dr. Smith
305
Very eccentric, too, was old Dr. Smith, the water-cure
physician, whose method, hke the one described by Charles
Lamb, was "as old as the flood," and, like that universal
hydropathic remedy, probably "killed more than it ciired." Dr.
Weld also was a man of marked characteristics. He always
drove in a chaise with its top painted white, that his coming
might be noted afar off. At the house of Dr. Weld, one might
often have met the Grimkies, who were very "decided char-
acters," and "great abolition women." Besides all these
there was old Parsons, the junk-dealer, whose motto was,
"Pay to-day and trust to-morrow; and the curious old man
who used to come from Boston every summer, never tell-
ing his true name but always insisting that he was Plutarch
Bonaparte General De Grand.
No less interesting was the village tailoress who went
about from house to house, making new garments or "cutting
over" old ones; and whose life-work was commemorated by this
inscription on her tombstone :
Miss Mary Pratt
Died Feb. 10, 1842
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright;
for the end of that man is peace.
And then there was Lize Cripps — poor old Lize Cripps,
with her skimpy gown, and her hair done up in a tight little bob
with ends sticking out like wisps of straw. If anybody in those
old days looked particularly forlorn and distracted, they were
commonly said to look "worse than old Lize Cripps!" Lize
was a little, blink-eyed woman, who walked lame, and always
wore her apron when on the street. She was fond of calling
on everybody, and was an inveterate beggar, and quite fastid-
ious as to what she accepted. She did not hesi/tate to express
her views on any subject however personal, aAd yet she was
kindly treated by everyone and very patiently tolerated.
The matrimonial experience of Lize had been varied and
extensive. She didn't see why so many folks couldn't get
husbands ; she had had four herself, and found it easy enough
to get them. The first was Pollard. He "did pretty well,"
3o6
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Lize said. The second was Butler; he was "no good;" the
third, Dorerthy, she "left with the Lord;" and the last one,
Johnny Watson, she was still "trying to get along with."
For a long time Lize was employed as a cook in the
Cheever family. She was a good cook, but she was a perfect
"Mrs. Malaprop" in the use of English. She, one day, an-
nounced to the guests at a dinner-party given by Mrs. Cheever,
that she had made them a "most malicious pudding." At
another time, she remarked that "the popularity of the beans
took away the superfluity of the meat." Poor old Lize
Cripps, who bore her maiden name all her life, notwithstand-
ing her four marriages, at last died in the alms-house, still
"trying to get along" with Johnny Watson.
To these individual examples, should be added the quaint,
old-fashioned society ladies with their antique party-gowns of
dotted muslin or green ber^ge festooned with ruffles of pink
satin ; the wives of the rich sea-captains, in their velvets, laces,
and Canton crepe shawls; the jolly inn-keepers^ the esthetic
law-students; the bronzed sailors, from foreign ports, with gold
rings in their ears; the prim, immaculate village milliner,
whose fashionable bonnets, with their upright ostrich plumes
and precise bow-knots, nodded to one another familiarly upon
the street; the impoverished gentlewoman who "went out
washing;" the crabbed old man from "out over the hills;" the
blooming country matrons that came to meetin' every Sunday
in their best attire ; and the long line of saintly single women
that filed, like vestal nuns, up the Old South minster aisles.
All these, and many more, had their own niches in the social
structure of Old Hallowell, and contributed to the dramatic
interest of the community. Could they now step forth from
their places, we should have a motley pageant of prim, elegant,
angular, crude, racy, romantic, pathetically incongruous,
and unconsciously irrelevant figures, but all sound at heart,
and illustrative of life in this old town on the Kennebec.
Governor John Hubbard
XIX
HALLOWELL'S "CHIEF CITIZENS"
I
Governor John Hubbard.
"His whole life was one of beneficent labor."
— In Memoriam, by Rev. A. R. Crane.
HE supreme honor, within the power of the people of
Maine to bestow, has twice been conferred upon
citizens of Hallowell. From 1850 to 1852, Dr. John
Hubbard was Governor of Maine; and from 1886 to
the close of 1887, Honorable Joseph R. Bodwell served as Chief
Magistrate of the State. Both of these men filled this high
office with distinction to themselves, to the State, and to the
town that proudly claimed each, in turn, as its chief citizen.
Governor John Hubbard came of excellent old Puritan
stock. His ancestry has been traced back to Richard Hubbard
of Salisbury, who married, about 1666, Martha Allen, born
1646, daughter of William and Ann Goodale Allen. The
parents of John Hubbard were Dr. John and Olive Wilson
Hubbard who came from Kingston, New Hampshire, to Read-
field, Maine, in 1784. Dr. John Hubbard, Jr., was born in
Readfield, March 22, 1794. He fitted for college at the Hal-
lowell and Monmouth academies, and by his excellent scholar-
ship and advanced study was able to enter the sophomore
class, at Dartmouth, from which famous old college he
graduated in 1616. In 1817-1818, he was ^preceptor at the
Hallowell Academy, and afterwards, a teacher in the state of
Virginia. He subsequently took a full course in the study of
medicine at the Philadelphia Medical School of the University
of Pennsylvania, and received his diplomas as Doctor of
Medicine and Fellow of the Philadelphia Medical School in
April, 1822.
3o8 ^ Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Thus well equipped, by broad culture and a thorough
medical course, for his chosen profession, Dr. Hubbard
entered upon the practice of medicine in the State of Virginia,
and remained there in successful practice for seven years.
Having then decided to make his home in the North, he spent
a year in study in the medical schools and hospitals of Philadel-
phia "under the direction of those skillful physicians and
expert operators whose fame attracted pupils from all parts of
the country."
That so able and eminent a physician, who had been urged
by his friends and instructors to settle in Philadelphia, should
decide to make his home in Hallowell, seems only in accordance
with that remarkable good fortune of the old town to which
so many good and great men were irresistibly drawn ; and no
one of our honored citizens has been more beloved in the com-
munity or has bestowed greater distinction on the town than
Dr. John Hubbard.
It is now impossible, even by those who knew him and who
cherish most grateful memories of his personal ministrations
and professional services, to give an adequate expression of the
honor and esteem in which Dr. Hubbard was h.eld by his
townspeople, or the perfect confidence with which the sick
were entrusted to the care of this beloved family physician.
There are many men and women still living who will under-
stand all that is implied when I say that as children we always
felt safe as soon as Dr. Hubbard entered our doors. In the
presence of this great, broad-shouldered, noble-featured, large-
hearted, sympathetic, experienced, all-knowing physician,
there was that comfort, trust, good cheer, and sense of security
that is often worth more than medicine; but we had the
medicine, too, and bitter enough it was sometimes.
One of Dr. Hubbard's biographers states that his physical
endurance was wonderful and that the amount of labor he
performed would have taxed the energies of three ordinary
men. He responded promptly and cheerfully to all calls,
whatever the weather, or whatever the hour of the day or
night. In summer, the doctor's **gig," and, in winter, the great
fur-coated figure in the sleigh, were a familiar sight upon the
Governor John Hubbard
309
streets of Hallowell. He visited the poor as willingly and
faithfully as the rich ; and much of his professional service was
gratuitously given, with no expectation or desire of reward.
With all his courtesy and kindhness of heart, Dr. Hubbard
also had the reputation of being stern and severe when justice
was required; and decision of character and promptness of
action were among his prominent traits. A very good illustra-
tion of the latter characteristic is given in an anecdote which
has come down to us on the breath of local tradition. It is
related that, on one occasion, when Dr. Hubbard was driving
late at night over a lonely road, he was stopped by two
ruffians with the sudden and imperious demand: ''Your
money or your life!" Instantly, before a word could be said in
reply, the big doctor rose in his sleigh and seizing the two
men, he knocked their heads together with the most tremen-
dous force; then calmly drove on leaving his two assailants to
diagnose their own cases of concussion of the brain.
From a professional standpoint. Dr. Hubbard's life-work .
holds the highest rank. His practice was very extensive ; his
opinions were regarded of the highest authority; and he was
sought in consultation by the most skillful physicians in Maine
and in the neighboring states. His devotion to his profession
was intense and unremitting; and his judgment, well nigh
infallible.
Thus, by natural qualifications, by education, and by years
of experience. Dr. Hubbard attained a position at the very
head of his profession ; and his reputation as a physician was
unrivaled in his day.
With all these arduous professional duties, Dr. Hubbard
did not overlook the important civic and political questions of
the time. He was a public-spirited citizen, an ardent patriot,
and a wise and conscientious statesman. T^e value of his
principles, his force of character, and his executive ability were
recognized by the county and state. In 1843, Dr. Hubbard
was chosen a member of the Senate from Kennebec; and in
1850, the honor of the chief magistracy was conferred upon
him. He was elected Governor for two successive terms; and
manifested in this office the same sound sense, keenness of
310
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
discernment, breadth of outlook, and loyalty to the public weal
that had characterized his professional life.
The public career of Governor Hubbard, like his private
life, was marked by the strictest integrity and unswerving
devotion to duty. To him is due the honor of having approved,
as Governor, the first prohibitory law passed by the Legis-
lature of Maine. A contemporary writer has well said that,
as the chief magistrate of Maine, Governor Hubbard "hesitated
not to throw all of his influence, personal and official, in aid
of all measures calculated to improve the condition of the
people, and develop the resources of the state;" and that "the
people of Maine will ever remember him with pride and honor,
as an able, honest, efficient chief magistrate 'whose adminis-
tration marked an important era in the history of the State.' "
On August 24, 1850, Governor and Mrs. Hubbard gave a
large and magnificent reception, which was long remembered
by the people ; and this brilliant social event formed a fitting
climax to the remarkable society life of the previous half-
century in the town of Hallowell.
"The reception," wrote the editor of the Gazette, "came
off at the Hallowell House on Friday evening, and such a
display of beauty and such exuberance of good feeling and
good cheer were never known on the banks of the Kennebec.
About one thousand persons were present. The rooms and
hall of the Hallowell House were brilliantly lighted and
decorated, and a band of music discoursed on the balcony.
Most of the members of the Legislature were present, — large
delegations from the cities of Augusta and Gardiner, and an
astonishing number of citizens, wives, daughters, maids, and
aunts, of the town of Hallowell.
"Governor Hubbard and family occupied the large parlor
in the south part of the house, and the company paid their
respects to him and family, separately, occupying some two
hours in the exchange of salutations. The large house was
filled to an extent never known before and all the arrange-
ments were of the most perfect description. The persons who
had charge of the affair and those connected with the house
are entitled to much credit. It will long be remembered as a
Governor John Hubbard
311
season of social joy and happiness, and will serve to render still
stronger the regard of this community for our distinguished
fellow-citizen who has been promoted to the highest office in
the gift of the people of this state."
Governor John Hubbard died February 6, 1869, in the
seventy-fifth year of his age; and public services befitting his
character and position in the community were held in the
Baptist Church at HallowelL A funeral address was delivered
by Rev. A. R. Crane, commemorating the virtues of the de-
ceased as citizen, physician, and Chief Magistrate of the State;
and at the close of the solemn and impressive services, the
body of him who had been so deeply beloved and revered
was followed by a long procession of mourners to the grave.
His burial place is marked by a shaft of granite hewn from
the Hallowell hills.
Dr. John Hubbard married, July 12, 1825, Sarah Barrett,
daughter of Oliver and Elizabeth Carleton Barrett of Dresden,
Maine. Their home in Hallowell was on Winthrop Street, in
the well-known Hubbard house whose simple, chaste, unosten-
tatious, and hospitable exterior was indicative of the family life
within.
Mrs. Hubbard was a woman of rare intelligence, quick
perceptions, and warm sympathies. She was social in tempera-
ment, devoted to her family and friends, and interested in all
that is best in life. She had an especial fondness for the
young, entered into their plans, and enjoyed their companion-
ship. They, in turn, confided to her their joys and sorrows
and seemed to forget the difference of age. Perhaps it was
this which, as the years wore on, kept alive in her the spirit of
youth. "I shall not be like you when I am ninety, if I live to
that age," a friend many years her junior once said to her.
**You will never be old!" and in mind and heart she never was.
Dr. and Mrs. Hubbard were the parents of six children.
Hester Ann, the oldest was born in Dinwiddle County, Vir-
ginia, February 13, 1827, and died in Hallowell, Maine, July
21, 1836. A son, born in Dinwiddle County, Virginia, January
21, 1829, died in infancy. The four remaining children who
were born and reared in the favored Hubbard home in Hal-
312
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
lowell were : Virginia Hamlin, Emma Gardiner, John Barrett,
and Thomas Hamhn. The sons were instructed in all manly
sports and the occupations of healthful out-of-doors life, and
the daughters were trained in the perfection of household
accomplishments. Their mental culture was also carefully
developed and they enjoyed every educational advantage which
the best schools of the country afforded.
Virginia Hamlin Hubbard was married August 24, 1864,
to Thomas W. T. Curtis, a resident at that time of Hartford,
Connecticut. Mr. Curtis was a native of New Hampshire and
a graduate of Dartmouth College in the class of 1844. Having
chosen the profession of teaching, he became successively the
principal of the Oliver High School, Lawrence, Massachusetts,
of the High School in Hartford, Connecticut, of a large private
school in Hartford, and, for the last twenty years of his life, of
the Hillhouse High School, New Haven, Connecticut. He
died in New Haven, March 5, 1888. A man of broad scholar-
ship and cultured tastes, he fashioned his life in accordance
with high ideals and won an enviable rank in his profession.
It is, perhaps, a fact of interest that the father of Mr.
Curtis, the Rev. Jonathan Curtis, also a Dartmouth graduate,
was for a time preceptor of the Hallowell Academy, and that
Dr. John Hubbard was one of his pupils.
Mrs. Virginia Hubbard Curtis has continued to reside in
New Haven since her husband's death. Their two sons were
graduated from Yale University in the class of 1887. The
elder, John Hubbard, died January 13, 1898. The younger,
Thomas Hamlin, resides in Portland, Oregon. He married,
June 4, 1907, Clarine Wells, only child of Burton G. Warner of
New Haven. They have one daughter, Virginia Hubbard,
born September 16, 1908.
The memory of Miss Emma Hubbard is still tenderly
cherished by the friends of her youth in Hallowell. She was
endowed with rare personal charms, a queenly figure, and face
of classic beauty. Her loveliness of character, her winning
personality, and her brilliant intellectual gifts rendered her
beloved and admired by all who knew her. She died in New
York, February 12th, 1877, mourned by a large circle of friends.
Captain John Hubbard
Governor John Hubba7'd
313
The two sons of Dr. and Mrs. Hubbard, John Barrett and
Thomas Hamlin Hubbard, took their preparatory course of
study at the Hallowell Academy, and afterwards graduated
with honor from Bowdoin College. For a few years they both
engaged in teaching preparatory to their professional life-work.
But the outbreak of the Civil War terminated these plans, and
John and Thomas Hubbard were among the first of the many
noble and patriotic young men who were fired with an ardent
enthusiasm for the cause of the Union, and who served in the
armies of the United States.
On entering the army, John Hubbard received the com-
mission of First Lieutenant in the First Maine Battery.
Later he was commissioned by the United States as Captain
and Assistant Adjutant General, and served as Chief of Staff
of General Godfrey Weitzel. He was a brave and devoted
officer and was adored by his comrades in arms. He met with
a soldier's death at the first assault on Port Hudson, May
27th, 1863.
The news of the death of John Hubbard was received in
Hallowell with overwhelming sorrow. His name is still held in
honored remembrance by the John Hubbard Army Post, and
by all who knew him, whether in civil or military life. He was
a noble youth, — the heart of valor and the soul of honor. He
may well be called the Chevalier Bayard of Hallowell, — ''with-
out fear, and without reproach."
Captain John Hubbard, at the time of his death, was
betrothed to a very beautiful young lady. Miss Cordelia
Chadwick, daughter of Samuel Chad wick of Portland. Just
before the battle of Port Hudson, Captain Hubbard had arranged
for leave of absence in order to return to Maine for his marriage
with Miss Chadwick. A few days later came the news of his
heroic yet tragic death; and thus, around the^'story of his be-
trothal, there ever lingers a halo of mingled pathos and romance.
Miss Chadwick was a rarely gifted and most attractive woman
who found consolation for her own crushing sorrow in doing
whatever lay in her power for the happiness of those she loved.
During the last years of her life she resided with Mrs. Virginia
Curtis at New Haven, and frequently came with her to spend
314 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
the summer months in Hallowell where she was much admired
and beloved.
Thomas H. Hubbard, prior to the war, had graduated from
the law school at Albany and had been admitted to the New
York bar; but, in 1862, he enHsted in the Union army. He
was Adjutant of the 25th Maine Volunteers, and afterwards
Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel of the 30th Maine Volunteers.
He distinguished himself by his bravery and brilliant services,
and was brevetted Brigadier General, July 13th, 1865. He
fought valiantly in the battles of the Red River campaign and
in the Shenandoah Valley under General Phil Sheridan; and
was mustered out of service soon after the close of the war.
He then resumed the practice of law in New York and has
become well known in his profession, and as an official of
railroad and banking corporations.
But it is here fitting to speak in detail only of the connec-
tion of General Hubbard with the interests of our own state
and community. To his munificence, Bowdoin College is
indebted for its incomparable Library building, and for other
generous gifts which have been gratefully and enthusiastically
received by his Alma Mater. To him the Hallowell Library
owes the very generous endowment by which, in 1893, this
time-honored institution was enabled to enlarge its granite
edifice and open its doors as a free library. Its present name,
"The Hubbard Free Library," has been given in memory of
the Hubbard family.
General Thomas Hubbard married Sibyl A. Fahnestock
of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, January 28th, 1868. Their sur-
viving children are John Hubbard, Sibyl Emma Hubbard, now
Mrs. Herbert S. Darlington of Philadelphia, and Anna Weir
Hubbard. A son, born in New York November 21, 1871, died
December 9th, 1871. Another son, Thomas Hamlin, born in
New York, July 30, 1874, died March 7, 1879.
General Hubbard and his sister, Mrs. Virginia H. Curtis,
have always retained their affection for Hallowell, as is shown
by their personal interest in all that pertains to the present
advancement of the place, or to the preservation of the records
of its historic past. Their early home, which they frequently
Governor Joseph R. Bodweli.
Governor Joseph R. Bo dwell
315
visit, still stands beneath its majestic elms with an air of
unmoved, old-time superiority, based on simple worth and un-
blemished character, — a fitting expression of the name and
fame of the family of Hubbard.
II
Governor Joseph R. Bodwell.
"Yet how better can a man die than in the flower of a well-
spent life and at the topmost pinnacle of his success?"
— In Memory of Governor Bodwell.
A generation passed after the death of Governor Hubbard,
and there arose in Hallowell a second man, ' good, wise, and
strong, a fearless champion of the right, a philanthropic citizen,
an efficient, faithful, and incorruptible administrator of the
law, on whom the people proudly bestowed the office of Chief
Magistrate of the State of Maine. This man was Joseph R.
Bodwell.
Governor Joseph R. Bodwell was the son of Joseph and
Mary How Bodwell. He was born June 18, 181 8, at Methuen,
Massachusetts, in an old colonial mansion that had been
occupied by five generations of the Bodwell family. The
Bodwells of Methuen were descended from Henry Bodwell,
who took the freeman's oath in Newbury, in 1678, and who is
on record as a soldier in King Philip's war. In 1693, Henry
Bodwell removed to Haverhill on the Merrimack, where
Bodwell's F'erry and Bodwell's Falls still commemorate his
name. The descendants of Henry Bodwell in this country
were men of ability and influence, and were characterized by
the best qualities of New England manhood./ It is also in-
teresting to know that, centuries before the l^ime of the first
comers to this country, there was a long and honorable line of
^ The Honorable Samuel Wells has sometimes been classed with the Governors
given by Hallowell to the State; but Judge Wells, although for a number of years an
honored resident of Hallowell, was, at the time of his election to the office of Gov-
ernor, a citizen of Portland.
3i6
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Bodwells, who ''trace their record through thirty-four genera-
tions, back to Cunnedda, the Roman general who conquered
North Wales, A. D. 500."
The childhood of Joseph R. Bodwell was passed upon
the ancestral acres of the Bodwell farm in Methuen. His
youth and early manhood were spent in acquiring a practical
knowledge of the business pursuits through which he made the
great financial successes of his life. He married, first, October
3, 1848, Eunice, daughter of Josiah and Hannah Austin Fox of
Dracut, Massachusetts; and, second, July 25, 1859, Hannah C.
Fox, the sister of his first wife. The only child of the first
marriage was Persis Mary Bodwell, who married, first, Rev.
Jotham M. Paine of Hallowell; and, second. Dr. George W.
Martin of Augusta. Of the second marriage of Joseph R.
Bodwell, was born one son, the Honorable Joseph F. Bodwell,
now President of the Hallowell Granite Works. Mr. Charles
Bodwell Paine, son of Rev. Jotham and Persis M. Paine, is the
only descendant in his generation, of Governor Joseph R.
Bodwell.
In 1852, Mr. Bodwell came to Maine and in company with
Honorable Moses Webster, opened the granite quarries at
Vinalhaven. In 1866, Mr. Bodwell removed to Hallowell, and
later organized the Hallowell Granite Works, of which he was
made president and chief executive officer. The business of
the company soon assumed extensive proportions and gave
employment to a large number of men. The Hallowell granite
was sent into almost every state in the Union. Monuments,
statues of famous men, and magnificent public buildings,
hewn from the Hallowell quarries are found in our large cities
throughout the New England, Middle, and Southern States.
Governor Bodwell also had large interests in lumbering and
milling companies, in agriculture and stock-raising, in the ice
business on the Kennebec, in railroad development, and in
>other extensive financial enterprises. He was a business man
of sterling integrity, sound common sense, untiring effort,
keen perception of values, and rare executive ability. He held
many important industries within his strong grasp, and by his
unswerving energy and rare judgment, attained large and well-
Governor Joseph R. Bo dwell
317
merited success. It was said of him that he was a genuine
alchemist, transmuting all he touched in a business way, even
our granite hills, into gold.
As a citizen of wealth and influence. Governor Bodwell
had it in his power to do much for the welfare of Hallowell;
and he never failed to respond to any worthy call. In his
private life, he was a man of the highest character, revered and
beloved in his family, spotless in integrity, boundless in charity,
a delightful friend and neighbor, a benefactor of the working
man, a patriotic and public-spirited citizen who used his wealth
for the benefit of the community and the good of the State.
Governor Bodwell was not a politician. He never sought
the emoluments of office, but was one of those rare men who
have the honors of official position thrust upon them. At the
unanimous and importunate request of his fellow citizens, he
served Hallowell as mayor for two terms, and also twice repre-
sented Hallowell in the Maine Legislature; and was twice
delegate from Maine to the Republican national convention.
While in office, he devoted all the wealth and strength of his
magnificent force to the purposes to which he had pledged his
service, and the results were such that the next step to the
gubernatorial chair seemed but the natural transition. And
yet it was with great reluctance, and with a generous sacrifice
of his own interests, that he consented to have his name pre-
sented as candidate for the office of Governor of Maine. In
1886, Mr. Bodwell was elected Chief Magistrate of the State;
and with fidelity and ability discharged the duties that
devolved upon him. ''It was very evident," said one authority
"that Governor Bodwell was Governor of Maine himself ! His
individuality was pronounced in all his official acts. . . . He
brought to the office of Governor the same qualities that
had made his business career honorable and successful, and his
I administration reflects credit upon the State and honor upon
I his memory."
i Governor Bodwell died in office, December 15, 1887; and
i the sorrow of the people of Maine was profound and sincere.
The spontaneous tributes of all classes of people to the life and
character of this honored and beloved Chief Magistrate show
3i8
Old Hallow ell on the Kennebec
how strongly his personality was impressed upon the public
mind. "Probably no man in Maine was ever mourned more
sincerely and generally. He was one of God's noblest works,
*an honest man.' His was a wonderful combination of soul,
brain, energy, and courage, such as appears at the rarest
intervals. He drew his friends around him with hooks of steel.
Good men believed in him and stood by him. His was a noble
nature, and that nobility was manifested in unostentatious
deeds of benevolence and charity. He was preeminently the
laborer's friend, always popular with the hundreds of men
constantly in his employ. . . . He loved his state above
the selfish clamor of party strife, and performed the duties of
Chief Magistrate with a wisdom and impartiality born of his
sagacity and noble character." ^
The remains of this honored Governor, of this good,
strong man, lay in state in the Capitol of Maine while a
long procession of ten thousand mourners passed and paid their
tribute to the dead. Solemn and impressive ceremonies were
performed, and, to the sound of the minute guns, the funeral
cortege passed to the old burying-ground in Hallowell. Then
above the stillness came the crash of artillery and three salvos
from the arsenal battery announced to the grief-stricken
people that their beloved townsman and Maine's Chief Mag-
istrate was laid among the dead.
The loss to the state of this noble son, this experienced
financier, this able and distinguished Governor, was very great:
the loss to Hallowell of its magnanimous pubhc benefactor, its
large-hearted friend, its beloved and honored chief citizen, was
irreparable.
* In Memoriam. Hon. Joseph R. Bodwell, pp. 49-50.
XX
SHIPPING AND SHIP-MASTERS OF HALLOWELL
"The peace that builds a ship like this,
Is worth a thousand wars."
— William Belcher Glazier.
HE early history of Hallowell shows that the material
prosperity of the town resulted from its unusual com-
mercial facilities, and its large maritime trade, which
was carried on by vessels built and owned by Hallowell
men. A complete record of the ships and ship-masters of this
old town, could it now be written, would prove most valuable
and interesting, but we can only offer on these pages a brief
mention of some of the famous old ships long remembered by
the townspeople, with sketches of a few of those old ship-
masters who stand as representatives of a class of men now
passing from our midst.
The story of the good ship Hallowell is perhaps one of the
most interesting and thrilling of the many that might be told.
This ship was built on the east shore of the river during the
first decade of the nineteenth century. Its launching is vividly
described by "An Old Citizen" who writes as follows :
"In imagination I can almost hear the sounds of the ship-
builder's axe and maul. The sounds suddenly cease and for a
few minutes all is still. Then comes a shout, and a stately
ship is seen to emerge from the gully and glide majestically
into the water. As she dips her bows into the water the sound
of breaking a glass bottle greets our ears and we faintly hear
the word "Hallowell" borne to us; and we know that is the
name of the noble ship built and owned by ^he late Judge
Dummer. This noble ship was corrimanded by our well-known
and highly respected fellow-citizen, Captain Samuel Smith."
The Hallowelly after many exciting adventures, during
which her young captain showed great courage, was at last
captured by the British in the war of 1812, and was left dis-
320
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
mantled just outside of Bermuda. Captain Smith and his-
family were long remembered in Hallowell. He was the father
of Mrs. Major E. Rowell, and grandfather of Mr. George
Rowell, the well-known editor of the Portland Advertiser.
Another famous vessel built in Hallowell was the fast
brig Mary Jane that made a great reputation, at the time of the
embargo, by running the gauntlet under fire from the fort at
the mouth of the Kennebec. The sprightly Mary Jane
escaped without damage, and reached the West Indies where
her cargo was sold at great profit to her owners.
Among the many tragic tales oft-told around the hearth-
stones of our ancestors was that of the brave young sea-
captain, George Carr, who, with his beautiful young bride from
Loudon Hil], set sail for Gibraltar in the ship E. G. Pierce.
This fine new vessel swept grandly down the Kennebec,
and out into the ocean never to return. Long afterwards,
somewhere on the Grand Banks, the brig was found bottom
upwards with her name still legible upon her stern.
It is no wonder that our grandsires, at the family altar,
always prayed for those that go down to the sea in ships or
that one of Maine's most gifted daughters should write:
"God bless them all who die at sea!
If they must sleep in restless waves,
God make them dream they are ashore,
With grass upon their graves."
The early part of the nineteenth century was a period
of great activity in the Hallowell shipyards ; and the launch-
ing of a vessel, although a familiar sight, never failed to
awaken the wildest enthusiasm.
About 1830, the shipyards of Mr. E. G. Pierce were filled
with busy workmen. Here was built the well-remembered
Marshal Ney, owned by Robinson and Page, and commanded
by the **crack shipmaster," Captain Abram Thing; also
another vessel, of 450 tons, owned by Rufus K. Page and
commanded by Captain Smith. It is stated in a contemporary
number of the Hallowell Gazette that Mr. Pierce built and
Atkins
321
launched these two fine ships, and employed forty-five men per
day during the season, '^without the use of ardent spirits."
In 1849, the ship John Merrick, named in honor of one of
Hallowell's most distinguished citizens, was built and launched.
The Gazette announces that this ship "went into the water
in beautiful style and rested on its surface with commendable
grace and dignity."
It is also stated in the Gazette "that more than half of the
ships built in the United States in this year (1849) were built
in Maine;" and a very generous proportion of these were built
in Hallowell. The great yards of Master Kempton and Master
Small were at this time very busy and it was extremely gratify-
ing, as the editor of the Gazette assures us, "to witness once
more, here in Old Hallowell, these exciting launching days
when young and old flocked together to see the sports of the
occasion."
In the early fifties there was another revival of ship-build-
ing in the Hallowell yards. This was in a great measure due
to the enterprise and public spirit of Mr. Rufus K. Page, who
was mayor of Hallowell at this time, and one of the largest
ship-owners on the Kennebec.
Captain James Atkins also owned a number of large
vessels, and among them was the Lizzie Reed, built of white
oak and hackmatack, "copper fastened," and called "one of the
prettiest brigs ever launched on the Kennebec." In 1853,
another fine brig was launched "in the presence of the early
risers of Hallowell." This brig was largely owned by Mr.
Peter Atherton, a wealthy farmer who possessed the fine estate
now called "Granite Hill Farm" and cultivated by the well-
known orchardist, Mr. William Peter Atherton. The Gov-
ernor Hubbard, the John Davis, and the Oleana of eight
hundred tons, were also famous vessels in their day.
The largest ship built in Hallowell at this period (1853)
was the Henry Reed; and no vessel ever dipped her prow into
the Kennebec freighted with more good wishes than this
noble craft of nine hundred tons. The Henry Reed was owned
by twelve well-known men, among whom were Thomas
Andrews, Ambrose Merrill, Henry Reed, and Captain George
322
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Dearborn for whom the ship was built. Thomas Andrews was
the ship's husband" and largest owner.
The first voyage of the Henry Reed was from Hallowell to
St. Johns and thence to London. For three years the Henry
Reed made prosperous and profitable voyages between New
York and Antwerp under the command of its young Captain,
George Dearborn. The ship was then transferred by Captain
Dearborn to the command of his brother, Henry Dearborn,
and sent to Australia. From that time the sailor's proverbial
"good luck" deserted the Henry Reed. The ship was dis-
masted off Cape Horn, taken into Rio de Janeiro for repairs,
and finally sold in London to pay the underwriters. Thence-
forth, this brave old Hallowell ship sailed — who knows where.?
— under the Enghsh flag.
It is interesting to know that Captain Dearborn, the first
gallant commander of the Henry Reed^ is still living at the age
of eighty-seven years. His home is in Brooklyn, New York;
but his summers are spent with his daughter, Mrs. Frederick
Bradstreet, in Gardiner, Maine. His reminiscences of his long
and prosperous career as a sea-captain are full of thrilling in-
terest. He was master of the Trident, the Emma Watts, the
Henry Reed, the Kittie Floyd, the Yorkshire, and other sailing
vessels, and afterward commanded several steamships owned
by Murray, Ferris, and Company, and by the Cromwell line.
Twice Captain Dearborn went round the world; twice he
retired from the sea, but was lured back by that nameless
love and longing that never loses its hold on the heart of the
true-born sailor. This innate, enthusiastic love of the sea still
inspires the many interesting tales related by Captain Dear-
born ; and, in the aged master of the Henry Reed, we find an
ideal example of the true old Kennebec sea-captain.
As a large number of these old sea-captains resided in
Hallowell, many of the younger men were induced by their
success to follow the sea. The hearts of these ambitious lads
were easily stirred by the wonderful stories which the old
sailors told on their return from "foreign parts;" and to
"double the Cape," or "go round the world," became the
absorbing desire of many a boy reared in the quiet homes of
Cox
323
Hallowell. And so, from the peaceful, smiling farms on the
river-shores, from the heights of Loudon Hill, and from the
very heart of the town, these brave youths went gaily forth
to seek their fortunes on the sea. They sailed on fishing
schooners, on trading-vessels, on the whaling ships to the
perilous ''Banks," and on deep-sea voyages to the Orient or the
islands of the Pacific. Many a mother has stood upon Hal-
lowell's ancient crowded wharves to bid good-bye to her boy
who would, perhaps, return a bronzed and bearded man, or,
perhaps, alas, be ''missing" when the ship again sailed into
port. Happily there were many of the former class, and
Hallowell thus became the home of a large number of suc-
cessful and wealthy sea-captains.
The memory of these old sea-captains should ever be
preserved in the annals of the town, for they are examples of
a type of men that has almost disappeared from our midst;
and if a single family were to be chosen to illustrate a long
line of these typical old ship-masters, none could be found
more truly representative than that of our early settler,
Captain James Cox.
Born of sea-faring ancestry, the son of a Boston ship-
master, Captain James Cox inherited a love of the sea which
he bequeathed to his descendants. In 1762, James Cox came to
Hallowell and settled on the beautiful intervale on the east
side of the river. His son, Gershom Cox, who also "followed
the sea," married Sarah Hussey, daughter of Captain Obed
Hussey. Five stalwart sons of this marriage, Comfort Smith,
Arthur, William Henry, James V., and G. Leander, all "went
out before the mast," and became masters of their own ships.
Gershom Cox may therefore very fittingly be called, the
"father of sea-captains."
Captain Comfort Smith Cox, born Septehiber 22, 1801,
married, July 22, 1827, Abigail Smiley, and had four children:
Sarah H., who married Jacob G. Fletcher; Mary Cora, who
married Edwin J. Benner; Barrett who married Victoria L.
Bailey; and Elizabeth A,, who married S. Franklin Davenport,
son of Nathaniel Davenport and a descendant of Thomas
Davenport, a soldier of the war of the Revolution. The name
324
Old Hallowell 07i the Kennebec
of Davenport is represented in Hallowell, in the present
generation, by Mr. Ralph Davenport, son of Mr. and Mrs. S.
F. Davenport.
Captain Comfort Smith Cox is well remembered as a
typical "retired sea-captain," who, having stood upon the
quarter-deck through the storm and stress of many perilous
voyages, was permitted to pass his last years in ease and hap-
piness with his family in the fair haven of Hallowell.
The Agrys were also sons of the sea and successful
masters of their own vessels. Captain John and Captain
Thomas Agry came to Hallowell about 1801. Captain Thomas,
born in Barnstable, August 6, 1756, married Hannah Nye of
Sandwich. Their oldest daughter married Judge Kingsbury
of Gardiner; their second daughter, Martha, married Colonel
William O. Vaughan of Hallowell. Mrs. Hannah Agry died
in 1794. In 1 801, Captain Thomas married Sally, daughter
of Benjamin and Mercy Hammett of Boston. They built and
resided in the house afterwards owned by Moses W. Farr,
Esq. Captain Thomas Agry was at one time president of the
old Hallowell and Augusta Savings Bank, and was one of the
prominent and influential citizens of Hallowell. He died April
25, 1 82 1, aged sixty-five.
Other sea-captains, whose names often appear on the
maritime records of Hallowell, were the Hinckley s, the Smiths,
the Nyes, the Dingleys, Abner Lowell, Joshua Carr, Abram
Thing, and Sarson Butler. Shubael West was the popular
master of the packet Delia, who "solemnly deposed" before
Ariel Mann, justice of the peace, that he and everyone on board
his vessel, "except one woman," had seen the sea-serpent off
Cape Ann. Later ship-masters were Captain Davis; Captain
Thomas Snow; the three Cooper brothers, James, Henry, and
Llewellyn; Captain Samuel Watts and his sons, Samuel,
Edward, and "Captain Lawson," whose daughter Helen,
married Mr. Samuel Glazier of Hallowell; Captain Titcomb,
the father of Walter Titcomb, a naval officer in the Civil War,
of Dr. Arthur Titcomb, and of Mrs. Carrie Titcomb Colcord ;
and Captain John McClintock, whose record as a successful
ship-master covered half a century.
Drew
325
One of the most familiar and honored names in the long
list of later Hallowell sea-captains is that of John H. Drew,
well known as an able and efficient ship-officer, and as the author
of a series of breezy sea-letters and picturesque descriptions
of foreign parts," which, under the signature of *'The
Kennebecker," appeared in the columns of the Boston Journal.
Captain Drew was born in Chelsea, formerly a part of
Hallowell, on the east side of the Kennebec. He was the son
of Allen Drew, ship-carver, and a man of marked individuality
in the town.
Born and bred in a seafaring community, the son of the old
ship-carver early manifested a strong love of the sea and an
irresistible longing for the life of the sailor. When but a boy
of eleven years, John Drew set sail in the forecastle, and by his
own energy and ability rose to the office of captain of the
Fearless. He afterwards commanded the Franklin and the
Sea Wiichy and sailed in many seas and visited almost every
foreign port frequented by American vessels. He ''doubled the
Cape" many times, and was often in the Chinese and East
Indian waters.
In reference to Captain Drew and his literary work, the
Boston Journal prints this tribute: "Captain Drew was a self-
taught man, and the large fund of information which he
possessed was the fruit of reading and observation and travel
in every part of the globe. He wrote without affectation or
straining for effect, in a vigorous, straightforward style, breezy
and original, and with the savor of the sea in every line. His
racy and vivid descriptions of life on shipboard and of strange
experiences in distant ports were widely popular, and few New
England writers in this particular department were better
known than he."
Captain Drew was always a loyal son of I^allowell, and the
Kennebec was the one river of the world to l^im. His letters
abound in local allusions and ititeresting reminiscences that
appeal to many readers. His life was marked by the wild
longings and aspirations of the boy, and the well-earned success
of a brave, persistent, and genuine lover of the sea. He spent
the last two years of his life in the comforts of his own home in
326
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Farmingdale, where he died in 1891. The following brief
tribute expresses the sentiment of many who knew and
esteemed the Kennebecker: "Captain Drew was our friend.
When we looked into his flashing eyes and frank, manly coun-
tenance, and received his cordial hand-grasp, we could make no
mistake in the man. His friendship was unfailing, his helpful-
ness of the sort that assisted without embarrassing, and his
heart was as free from guile as that of a child. Verily, a manly
man has gone from the loving embrace of home and friends to
join the innumerable multitude."
Among the most famous of the Hallowell ship-masters was
Captain Llewellyn Cooper, who, at the time of his death, in
1878, was the only American commander of the many Trans-
Atlantic steamship lines running out of New York. Although
only in his forty-eighth year, this experienced officer had voyaged
to all parts of the world, and commanded all kinds of vessels,
from the smallest sailing craft to the largest ocean steamship.
In person. Captain Cooper was a noble specimen of the
American seaman. He was six feet and two inches in height,
broad shouldered, and splendidly proportioned, with a cordial,
whole-souled manner, and a spirit of self-reliant courage rarely
surpassed on shipboard. His calmness and daring in times of
danger never failed to give courage and inspiration to the men
under his command.
Captain Cooper was born in Hallowell in 1830. At the
age of twenty-one he sailed out of the port of New York, as
master of one of the finest barks in the foreign trade. He made
frequent voyages around the Cape of Good Hope, to Calcutta
and Madras, and to the East Indies. He was also engaged
in the China trade. For years he was captain of one of the
finest packet ships between London and Calcutta; and after-
wards commanded the steamship Pacific. In 1883, a new iron
steamship, the State of Georgia of the State Line, was
launched ; and Captain Cooper was appointed to command her.
"His record has not been bettered by that of any steamship
captain on the North Atlantic." ^
^ The New York Sun. November 30, 1878.
Wel/s
327
Captain Llewellyn Cooper married Elizabeth Andrews, of
Hallowell. He died in Scotland, and his funeral took place on
board his own steamship which then lay at anchor on the Clyde.
Three sons of Captain Llewellyn and Elizabeth Cooper,
Llewellyn, James, and Thomas, now reside in Augusta, Maine.
Another ship-master of reputation on both sides of the
globe is Captain Charles Wells, who should here receive
especial mention, not only because he represents the ideal type
of the American ship-master, but because he is now the last of
the race in Hallowell. Of all the brave old captains who, one
after the other, left their ships to make their homes in some
stately old-fashioned house in Hallowell, Captain Wells is now
the only living representative. In his fine old mansion built
nearly a hundred years ago, by Mr. Benjamin Wales, and sur-
rounded by rare and curious treasures from all parts of the
world, Captain Wells, with his long, honorable, and interesting
experiences still fresh in his mind, is a most entertaining and
delightful host.
The Wells family is of Norman extraction, and its ancient '
representatives are believed to have come to England with
William the Conqueror. The name was originally De Welles.
The first representatives of the Wells family in this country
came from Colchester, England, to Connecticut, in 1635.
Captain Charles Wells is the son of Ensign and Louise Batten
Wells. In his youth he went first to California, where he
remained several years before he began to "follow the sea."
He then made numerous voyages to the East Indies, and in a
comparatively short time rose to the rank of captain. On
February 8, i860, he married Amelie Bergmann, at Bermerhaven,
Germany. Their children were Georgiana and Julia, both born
in Burmah, and Louise, who was born in Hallowell and there
married to Mr. Franklin Glazier Russell.
Captain Wells resided several years fn Glasgow, and
while there was offered the command of the ship Shantung
which was sent out under the British flag to the Russell Com-
pany in China. On arriving in the Chinese waters this ship was
placed under the American flag and Captain Wells remained in
command of the vessel. This was the beginning of Captain
328
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Wells' experience of thirty years as captain on the Chinese
rivers. For ten years he was in command of one steamship on
the Yangtse-Kiang. In China, Captain Wells attained a high
reputation ; and frequently when the Chinese government pur-
chased ships from the yards of Glasgow, Scotland, he was
commissioned to bring them to China. On these occasions,
Captain Wells also visited his family in Hallowell. In this
manner he went round the world five times. After many years
of perilous adventure and heroic experience on the waters of the
Orient, Captain Wells is now enjoying a well-earned season of
repose; while Hallowell proudly claims him as the last and one
of the greatest of her long line of famous sea-captains.
Thus, for many years, Old Hallowell, although not a sea-
coast town, was a regular port of entry for vessels engaged in the
coasting trade and in voyages to foreign lands. The daily tides
that washed its numerous old wharves brought the salty flavor
of the sea. The aroma of tropical fruits and spices permeated
its ancient warehouses; and mingled odors of tobacco, tar, and
the ever-flowing "West India Rum" followed in the wake of the
jovial sailors who came ashore and spent their hard-earned
silver with a lavish hand. The fleets of schooners, brigs, and
other craft that came and went upon the bosom of the Kenne-
bec were a familiar sight to the dwellers on the river-banks.
But the time came, at last, when these white-winged argosies
silently and one by one disappeared from the Kennebec. The
arrival of the first steamboat, which was hailed with delight, put
an end to the line of packets on the river, and entirely changed
the methods of trade and travel.
In the year 1838, the steamer John W. Richmond owned
principally by Rufus K. Page, and commanded by Captain
Nathaniel Kimball, was placed upon the route between
Hallowell and Boston. This was a fine steamer, ''elegantly
appointed and of great speed," and its arrival twice a week was
attended with intense interest and general excitement.
As the steamer could not be seen at a great distance from
the Hallowell wharves, on account of the curve in the river, a
signal station was arranged on Chelsea heights, commanding
the view below Bowman's Point, and as soon as the steamer
The Coming of the Steam-Cars
329
appeared in sight a ball was hoisted to announce its coming.
Then a crowd of men and boys rushed to the wharf; travelers,
men of business, teamsters, idlers, and loungers crowded and
jostled one another in their eagerness to ''see the boat come in;"
and the great passenger-coaches rattled and clattered down
through Water Street as soon as the signal ball appeared.
Regular old-fashioned stage-coaches were those driven by
*'Dan" Hanscom and "Sam" Johnson who dashed like veritable
Jehus to the wharves, while "Pinkham" of Augusta frantically
endeavored to get there first with his galloping steeds. Popular
boys were often permitted by these drivers to ride down to the
wharf, but they were always obliged to walk back.
In a short time, another steamer, the Huntress, was placed
upon the route, and a sharp competition between the two lines
ensued. Cornelius Vanderbilt also put a steamer, named for
himself, upon the Kennebec. Along in the forties the John
Marshall, owned by ''the People's Line," a New York Com-
pany, appeared upon this coveted route; and then a most
astonishing contest followed. The price of tickets from Hal-
lowell to Boston was at last reduced to ten cents, and at one
time passengers were actually paid twenty-five cents to take a
free passage to Boston. This competition ended when the old
company purchased controlling shares in the People's line, and
removed the Joh7t Marshall from the Kennebec.
The advent of the steamboat was followed by that of the
steam-cars in 1857. On December 15th of that year, the first
train pushed through Hallowell in a blinding snow storm,
amidst the wildest enthusiasm of the spectators. Twenty
years before, it had been predicted by the Rev. John A.
Vaughan in a lecture, that "a man would soon be able to see
the State Flouse of Massachusetts and that of Maine by the
sunlight of the same day." This prediction was now verified.
Still there were many men who believed that on account of the
severity of the Maine winters, the cars would only run two
hundred days in the year. The Honorable George Evans,
however, who was afterwards president of the road, was of the
opinion that the cars might run three hundred days in the
year. One train a day was considered a great achievement.
330
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
and the passengers from Hallowell were quite content with
this great improvement in the facilities for travel.
In connection with the first steamboat and the first steam-
cars, mention should also be made of the first automobile in
Hallowell. This famous horseless carriage was built, in 1858,
by the McClench brothers of Hallowell, at the suggestion of
Judge Rice and Dr. H. H. Hill of Augusta. A full descrip-
tion of its mechanism still exists, and the proofs of its success
are on record. Its trial trip was a memorable event in Hal-
lowell and aroused great excitement. Mr. George B. McClench
was the *'chief engineer." The Judge "took the tiller" and "sat
upright on the seat, his hands encased in black gloves, and
with his tall hat and high stock, he made an imposing figure."
The machine started in Joppa, moved up Water Street, and
along the plains, at a good speed, and then returned with-
out accident. This old-time automobile made numerous suc-
cessful trips, but after its practical working had been demon-
strated and the novelty of the affair was over, it was stored
by the McClench brothers for a number of years, and
afterwards taken to pieces.
Half a century has passed away since the introduction of
these new methods of travel. Marvel after marvel has fol-
lowed in swift succession, but the people no longer manifest
ingenuous surprise or unrestrained enthusiasm over whatever
is new and wonderful. The great steamers arrive on the
Kennebec, but no gilded balls from Chelsea heights announce
their coming; the mighty express trains, in shine or storm,
speed through our towns, but no one gazes after them in
astonishment ; the countless automobiles flash upon our vision
and vanish in the distance, and yet we make no sign. We live
in a world of marvels, but have we not lost something of the
wonder, the mystery, and the glory of things that intensified
and united the life of the people in the olden days.?
XXI
THE PUBLIC INTERESTS OF HALLOWELL
I"
"Her record in all respects, as town or city, is free from blot or
stain."
— I?r. William B. Lapham.
UR Story of Old Hallowell has thus far been con-
cerned principally with the people of the town and
with its religious, educational, social, and commercial
interests. In order to complete the tale, something
should now be said of those public interests which represent
the people not as individuals but as a community.
The civic and political life of Hallowell would furnish
subject matter for many pages of local history. Even
in the earlier times, the people were keenly alive to public
affairs; and one of the absorbing topics of interest was the
separation of Maine from Massachusetts. As early as 1796,
this subject was agitated in Hallowell, and the columns of the
Tocsin show that the leading men of the day were even then
awake to the necessity of an independent State organization.
In 1820, when the time for the separation arrived, the people
and the press of Hallowell took an influential part in the proceed-
ings. The delegates from Hallowell to the convention for
forming a constitution for the State of Maine were Samuel
Moody, Benjamin Dearborn, and William N. Page. Jeremiah
Perley prepared a valuable digest of the debates of this con-
vention, and Ebenezer T. Warren was a member of the
committee appointed to prepare a circular letter to be sent to
certain prominent men asking their opinion on the question:
Shall Maine separate from Massachusetts.?" ^
In the old volume compiled by Jeremiah Perley, may be
found a letter from Ex-president John Adams, expressing his
opinion on this subject from which I give the following inter-
esting extracts :
"My judgment, poor as it is, and my inclinations, strong
332
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
as they are, are all on the side of union. I can see no pubUc
benefit to arise, on the contrary much pubUc evil, from that
spirit of division, partition, and separation which so unhappily
prevails among our worthy fellow-citizens. . . . But I can
tell you how it will be when there arises in Maine a bold,
daring, ardent genius, with talents capable of inspiring the
people with his own enthusiasm and ambition. He will tear
off Maine from Massachusetts and leave her in a state below
mediocrity in the union. My advice therefore is to remain as
you are as long as you can. Though I know that my advice
will have no weight with one party or another, yet I will
present my compliments to the worthy committee who have
signed the circular letter and advise them as they stand well to
stand still."
During the first quarter of the nineteenth century the
national questions were also of absorbing interest to the think-
ing men of Hallowell; and the old town with its two political
parties, the Federals and the Democratic-Republicans, — each
represented by an able newspaper, — was the scene of much
lively discussion. The political campaign of 1840 was one of
the most exciting ever known in Hallowell. This was the
memorable "Hard Cider Campaign" of "Tippecanoe and Tyler
too."
The Whigs during this contest held their meetings in a
log-cabin erected, for political purposes, on Second Street
where the Universalist Church now stands. This club-room
was furnished with rustic chairs and tables, and was decorated
with old firearms, coonskins, and other suggestive ornaments.
In one corner, a barrel of hard cider was always on tap; and a
leather latchstring, two feet long, was always out in welcome to
the supporters of Harrison. Stories of the original and
forcible manner in which this campaign was conducted were
long told in the political circles of the State. In the mean-
time the town was rent with the antislavery agitation to
which reference has already been made in this volume. The
discussions and dissensions on the abolition of slavery were so
keen that even the church organizations were threatened with
disruption. It was at the height of this agitation that a young
Local Organizations
333
minister who was temporarily occupying the Unitarian pulpit,
gave great offence, by his vehement and tactless sermons, to
some members of his congregation; and in the midst of
one of his denunciatory discourses, a certain masterful and
indignant sea-captain of the town angrily arose, opened the
door of the pew that enclosed his family in aristocratic seclu-
sion, and strode majestically out of the church, to the con-
sternation of his children, and the amazement of the offending
minister. It is evident that the sympathies of the congregation
were this time with the intolerant Captain, for on the next
Sabbath when the zealous divine came to preach again, he
found the doors of the church forever closed against him.
The many able men and talented orators in Hallowell gave
a zest to all political discussions; and through all the changes
of party organization, there were always powerful leaders and
devoted followers. *'How my Democratic ears used to tingle,"
wrote a certain old citizen, "when, as a boy, I heard John P.
Dumont, a fiery whig, run the locofocos! How he used to
punish Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren!" and this
illustrates the spirit of the times.
All this was changed in the fateful sixties when the men of
Hallowell united in the Union cause and magnificently sup-
ported the government through the most crucial period of our
country's history. Hallowell's long roll of honor shows how
many of her sons nobly gave not only their service but their
lives to the cause of the Union.
The local organizations of Hallowell were always a source
of pride and interest to the people. One of the very oldest, as
well as the most permanent of these organizations was the
Kennebec Lodge of Free Masons founded in 1796. The
first Worshipful Master of this Lodge was Judge Nathaniel
Dummer. On June 27, 1796, the Festival of St. John the
EvangeUst was celebrated by this lodge, and one hundred years
from that date, St. John's day was again commemorated by
the same lodge in Hallowell. In its list of members in the year
1820, we find the familiar names of Pel eg Sprague, Gideon
Farrell, Amos Nourse, Ebenezer White, Andrew Masters, John
D. Lord, Calvin Spaulding, S. K. Oilman and Simon Johnson.
334
Old Hallowell on the Ke^mebec
The Kennebec Benevolent Union was a literary and social
club to which many Hallowell men belonged. All events of
national importance were celebrated by this brilliant associa-
tion; formal banquets were held in Washington Hall; and
eloquent and witty after-dinner speeches were made by
Nathaniel Perley, Thomas Bond, John Dumont and other
popular orators of the town.
During the earlier years of the nineteenth century the
military spirit was strong, and the leading men of the town were
members of the two volunteer companies, the " Hallowell
Artillery" and the ''Light Infantry." The artillery company
had a gun-house and parade-ground north of Lincoln Street,
and stored their ammunition in the old brick powder house on
the hill. The uniform of the members of this company was of
dark blue cloth trimmed with red; their caps were of black
leather having a tall black plume tipped with crimson. The
Light Infantry was composed of the younger men of the place.
Their uniform consisted of a blue coat, with white and silver
trimmings, white trousers, and cap with a long white plume.
They were famous for their elegant appearance, their immacu-
late accoutrements, and their excellent discipline. These two
companies were idolized by the townspeople; and even the
"String-Beaners," the un-uniformed company that straggled
along at the end of the line on muster-day, were not without
their share of popular favor. The annual brigade-muster on
Hinckley's plains, was a grand gala-time for Hallowell and the
surrounding country ; but with the passing of the State militia,
the glory of the Artillery and the Light Infantry departed, and
only the titles of the officers remained as evidence of their
former glory.
The firemen's department was an organization which was
also warmly supported by public sentiment. The "Lion" and
the "Tiger" were familiar names in every household, and
parades of the engine companies with their martial music were
the pride and delight of the populace. The handsome youths
in their gorgeous uniforms won many honors; but their laurels
were at one time borne away by the young ladies of Hallowell,
of whom this incident is related :
The Firemen's Jubilee
335
"About fifty years ago a Fourth of July excursion to
Hunne well's Point took from the town all of the firemen and
indeed most of the male population. Late in the afternoon a
fire was discovered in the Exchange Hotel, commonly called
Winslow's Tavern on Water Street. It was a large wooden
building, and unless the flames could be quickly extinguished it
must go, and adjoining stores also, several of which had already
taken fire. Tidings of the catastrophe came to the ears of the
women, and a dozen or more of the younger ones, regardless of
the silks and laces in which they were robed for some function,
rushed to the engine house, found men enough to drag the
'Tiger' to the wharf, and one band manned the brakes in a
fashion worthy of long practice and masculine muscle, while
another passed the buckets of water, and the town was saved."
Six of these ''firewomen" are now living, and three of them
reside in Hallowell."
One of the very last public celebrations of Hallowell, as a
town, was organized by the fire department and carried out to a
most brilliant success by the loyal support of the townspeople.
This festival is still remembered with a thrill of enthusiasm by
many, now living, who took a part in the splendid pageant of
August 6, 1 85 1.
This popular fete had been designed for a Fourth of July
celebration, but on that inauspicious day it rained in torrents.
It was therefore resolved to appoint another date for the
"firemen's jubilee and grand floral procession."
On August 6th, all the glowing anticipations of the towns-
people and officers of the day were abundantly realized. The
weather was perfect. Five hundred firemen from Lewis-
ton, Bath, and the Kennebec towns appeared promptly upon
the scene. Five thousand spectators filled the streets of the
old town. The procession was headed by Ch;ef Marshal A.
Berry, with his assistants, T. M. Andrews, A. Lord, Henry
Reed, A. Merrill, E. Rowell, of Hallowell. The place of honor
in the line was accorded to the famous old engines, the "Lion"
and the "Tiger," with their men. They were followed by
eleven other companies, making a brilliant spectacle with their
gorgeous costumes, their shining engines, and waving banners.
336
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
At the moving of the procession, the bands played, the bells
rang, and the Thunder-Jug," Hallowell's famous old cannon
taken from the Boxer, resounded from the wharf. The column
passed through the length of Second, Middle, and Water Streets,
and up Temple Street to the Old South Church. Here the
children were seated in the galleries, and the large auditorium
was filled with ladies and other guests of the day. After an over-
ture by the band, and prayer by Rev. Mr. Cole, a poem, by
William B. Glazier, Esq., was delivered in a most enjoyable and
effective style. It is remembered as a graceful and brilliant
production abounding in poetic fancies, patriotic sentiment, wit,
satire, and many humorous local ''hits."
The parade of the ever popular and much admired firemen
aroused great enthusiasm, but the floral procession appealed
more closely to the hearts of many of the spectators, for this
was the young people's pageant; and it was pronounced the
very best exhibition of its kind that was ever seen on the
Kennebec, or in the state. Among the most prominent and
most admired features of this procession were:
Flora's Car, containing the floral queen seated on the
throne and surrounded by twelve maids of honor.
Innocence, a little girl two years of age, on a moss-covered
car borne by four boys.
Morning, young lady dressed in white with crown on her
head to signify the sparkles of the rising sun.
Night, a young lady dressed in black, covered with silver
stars.
Hope, a little girl two and a half years old on a litter borne
by four boys.
The Four Seasons, four young ladies appropriately
dressed to represent the four seasons.
The Lily, a little child in a basket covered with moss and
pond lilies.
The May Pole, on car, surrounded by ten young girls.
The May Queen, seated upon a throne, with attendants
on either hand.
Banner with streamers, held by two young girls, followed
by a company of thirteen archers.
Grand Floral Procession
337
Boat, filled with forty-one children, and having in the
prow four boys dressed in man-of-war costume.
Pedestal, surmounted by the Silver Trumpet, the fire-
man's prize, borne by four young ladies.
Interspersed between all these gaily decorated cars were
companies of boys and girls, the flower of the youth of
Hallowell, bearing wreaths, garlands, flags, and banners. Every
home in the town was represented ; the hearts of the people
united with one accord in joyous enthusiasm; and the music of
the brass band aroused a wildly patriotic fervor. The Floral
Queen," "Morning," "Night," and the "Four Seasons," were
young ladies remarkable for their grace and beauty; and many
tributes of loyal admiration are still paid, in memory, to the lovely
"May Queen," Miss Addie Stearns, who, as it is pleasant to
remember, was the daughter of Mrs. Louise Page Stearns and
great-granddaughter of Sarah Kilton, the young heroine of
Revolutionary fame.
After the parade was over the ''Floral Procession" marched
to the grounds of Mr. John Gardiner where a picnic dinner was
served to the proud and happy children. The firemen dined
under a large pavilion on the spacious lawn of Colonel E. E.
Rice, where six hundred people were seated at the table. The
repast was preceded by remarks from R. G. Lincoln, Esq.,
President of the day, and followed by numerous witty and
patriotic toasts.
This festival of the people in its chaste simplicity and uni-
versal enjoyment appeals strongly to our memories, and recalls
the ancient fete-days of the Florentines, or the classic celebra-
tions of the youths and maids of Athens.
The history of old Hallowell as a town terminates in
1852, for in this year the town became a city. /Until this time,
our fathers had governed themselves on the good old town-
meeting plan, and had honorably conducted all municipal affairs.
Prosperity had blessed their shores. They had also seen
years of adversity and depression from causes not under
the control of those in public trust. The name of Old Hal-
338
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
lowell was held in honor, at home, and everywhere abroad.
Her escutcheon was without a stain. But looking into the
future, men of public spirit, those who were ambitious for the
advancement of the business interests of the place, deemed a
change in the form of the local government essential to suc-
cess; and on February 17, 1852, the new charter was adopted
and the town became a city.
Our story of Old Hallowell, therefore, naturally comes to
an end at this date. New Hallowell brought in new life, new
people, new churches, new schools, and new business enter-
prises. At the magical touch of labor and capital, the heart
of our granite hills was opened, and the quarries gave up their
precious store. The frozen bosom of the Kennebec yielded
its crystal treasure. New industries were established on the
Vaughan stream; and new manufactories sprang up within
our borders.
At this time also, a new volume was opened by the city
fathers on the pages of which a new record was to be inscribed.
But our story is a tale of the past. Some of its threads, it is
true, stretch on into the warp and woof of the present time, but
only so far as they pertain to the representatives of the old
families or to the old institutions which are still preserved.
And now, as we reverently and reluctantly turn the old
town escutcheon to the wall, and come to the opening years of
the twentieth century, we find, notwithstanding all the
changes of the past, that Hallowell is still the same delightful,
dear old town as long ago. The passing seasons have touched
gently its ancient mansions, its majestic elms, and its familiar
streets. The beauty of the river and the glory of the hills
remain. They can never be marred by time. It is therefore
not difficult to explain why the sons and daughters of Old Hal-
lowell still love their native town. However far, or however
long they may have wandered, they are still devotedly loyal to
the place of their birth. That this is true is proved by the
frequent visits of old residents, and by their generous gifts to
Hallowell's public institutions.
A notable expression of the loyal and abiding interest of
the children of Hallowell in the "Mother-Town" was given on
The Reunion
339
July 12, 1899, when from north, south, east, and west, they re-
turned for a day of reunion on the banks of the Kennebec.
The occasion seemed, indeed, Uke a great family gathering
around the mother-hearth. It was a happy festival of the
people, comparable, in spirit and observance, with those of the
olden times. The day was made especially memorable by the
dedication of the City Hall, presented to Hallowell by Mrs.
Eliza Clark Lowell, a lineal descendant of Deacon Pease Clark,
the first settler of the town. The exercises opened with music,
and an invocation by the Rev. D. E. Miller. The keys of the
new City Hall were presented to Mayor Safford by Mr. Ben
Tenney, the chairman of the building committee. Mayor
Safford, in his response, paid a most fitting tribute, in behalf
of the citizens of Hallowell, to Mrs. Lowell, and to her family
name which has been interwoven with the history of Hallowell
since the first settlement of the town. An oration on Civic
Virtue," was delivered by Professor Charles F. Richardson, and
a poem, inspired by the true spirit of welcome, was read by Mrs .
Anna Sargent Hunt. Among the guests of honor upon the
platform were Llewellyn Powers, Governor of Maine, and the
venerable James W. Bradbury of Augusta.
A brilliant reception was given in the evening to the hun-
dreds of guests within the town ; and an address of welcome was
made by the Honorable W. F. Marston. Other parts in the pro-
gramme were: "Hallowell As It Is To-day," by Thomas Leigh,
Esq.; "Hallowell And Its Possibilities," by W. W. Vaughan,
Esq.; "Our School Days," by Professor Arthur M. Thomas;
"Literary Hallowell," by Rev. Dr. Butler, President of Colby
College; "Hallowell in the War," by General George H. Nye;
"Reminiscences," by Major E. Rowell; "What Should Our
Birthplace Mean to Us.?" by Rev. D. E. Miller. Letters
were also read from Honorable Gorham D.^ Gilman, E. T.
Getchell, Esq., General Thomas H. Hubbarcl, General O. O.
Howard, and other old residents.
The most delightful feature of this reunion, however, was
the afternoon reception, at the Vaughan homestead, where the
beautiful house and spacious grounds were thrown open with the
most cordial hospitality, and where the guests, like happy
340
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
children, wandered under the oaks and pines, lingered on the
rustic bridges that span the stream, or sat upon, the broad
veranda, while at their feet the beloved Kennebec, unchanged
and unchangeable, rolled on to the sea. Here gray-haired men
and women renewed their youth, and forgot time and distance,
and all else, save the "Welcome home!" bestowed upon them
by their hosts and hostesses at this oldest mansion . of the
Mother-Town. At their right hand were the terraced gardens
where the ancient sun-dial has marked the passing hours for
more than a hundred years; and at their left were the three tall
larches planted by the daughters of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan,
and still called, in their memory, the ''Three Sisters." Before
them, from the banks of the Bombahook stream, rose a tall,
gigantic tree, the "Smoking Pine," with which, for generations,
an Indian legend has been associated. Many, on that day,
recalled the old tradition; and, lest we forget, the story is here
enshrined.
THE SMOKING PINE
On Bombahook's high bank it stands,
The ancient smoking pine;
It lifts aloft its hoary hands
Above the wooded pleasure lands,
And makes its mystic sign.
Its gray-green branches sway, — and then
Their ghostly murmurs cease;
A solemn silence fills the glen,
While Assonimo smokes again
The spectral pipe of peace.
We watch the blue-tinged vaporous haze
In curling mist arise;
And lo! to greet our wondering gaze,
The phantom camp-fires start and blaze
Beneath the twilight skies.
Across the wildly dashing stream
That swirls and foams below.
The fire-light throws its ruddy gleam.
And dusky forms as in a dream.
Flit softly to and fro.
The Smoking Pine
Hush ! 'tis the Indian chieftain's hand
That lights the calumet;
He speaks: "In this our father's land,
Too long we roam, an outcast band,
On whom the curse is set!
**For us, the hopeless strife is o'er;
No warrior waits our call;
White brothers ! bid us place once more
Upon the Bombahook's fair shore.
Our wigwams few and small !
" And while the torrent o'er the rocks,
Flows downward to the tide,
And with its thundering echo mocks
The death-chant of the Wawenocs,
In peace let us abide.
"Our doom is sealed, our glory past.
Our hearth-fires, faintly fanned,
Die out; and, from the heavens o'ercast,
The whirlwind and the tempest's blast
Shall smite us from the land !
" But from the chieftain's heart a pine
Blood-set shall rise and sway.
Where Assonimo's ghostly line
Shall smoke as a perpetual sign,
The pipe of peace for aye! "
The tempest came ; the prophet chief,
With all his people fell;
No death-dirge droned for their relief ;
Only the pale-face gazed in grief
Upon the wasted dell.
The new moons o'er the forest-nave,
Waxed full and slowly swung ;
But when the springtide kissed the wave
From out the Wawenoc's deep grave /
The mighty pine-tree sprung. '
To-day, above the waters swift.
Its lofty branches flare ;
And see, the smoke -wreaths curl and lift
From Assonimo's pine they drift.
And vanish into air.
342
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Many of the guests at the Vaughan mansion, on the day of
the reunion, gazed with appeaUng interest to the topmost
branches of this ancient tree, but saw no sign. Nevertheless,
it is solemnly asserted that, occasionally, and under certain
atmospheric conditions, a thin blue vapor has been seen to rise
from the top of the Smoking Pine. No true son or daughter of
Old Hallowell doubts that this is the spectral haze from
Assonimo's pipe of peace which shall continue to smoke so long
as the Bombahook flows into the Kennebec.
Notable among the many guests at the Vaughan mansion,
on the day of this joyous reunion, was a group of gray-haired
"Academy students," who sat around one of the revered and
beloved "preceptors" of olden times, and talked of school days,
in the year 1825. The "preceptor" was the honorable James W.
Bradbury, then ninety-seven years of age. The "students" were
Mrs. Nathaniel Davenport, Mr. George R. Smith, and Thomas
B. Merrick, Esq., of Philadelphia, They were all octogenarians,
but the glow of youth had not departed from their eyes, nor its
fervor from their hearts.
Distinguished, also, among the many guests was a bright-
eyed, animated, youthful old lady, Miss Maria Clark, the lineal
descendant of Deacon Pease Clark, the "Father of Old Hal-
lowell." In her straight, old-fashioned gown, her little black
shoulder cape, and her queer, indescribable bonnet. Miss Maria
Clark was the center of reverent and loving attention. She
now lies with her fathers, in the old Hallowell burying-
ground, on the river shore ; but her memory will be perpetuated
by the fine, commodious school-house which, during her life-
time, she gave to the children of Hallowell, and which is a
worthy monument to her honored name.
Hallowell will ever be the richer for the memories of this
last public festal day of the nineteenth century. The hundreds
of men and women, who came from afar, carried away a renewed
remembrance of the old-time beauty and the never-ceasing hos-
pitality of Old Hallowell. They left behind them a surety of
their loyal devotion to the place of their birth and the home of
their forefathers.
Happy also is Hallowell in the literary tributes that have
I
The Hills of Hallozvell
343
been paid to her local attractions as well as to her historic
and social charms. Most suggestive of the familiar and pic-
turesque haunts of our youth was one of the reunion letters
written by the Hon. Gorham D. Oilman.
"May your celebration be as bright as the morning sun as
it comes over the eastern hills of Chelsea; its course run as
smoothly as our beloved Kennebec in the sunshine of summer-
time; its music, as sweet and melodious as the music of the
'Cascade' in the old Vaughan brook used to be in boyhood's days;
its program, as rich as the aromatic perfume of 'Merrick's Pines; '
its hospitality, as broad and generous as the Vaughan acres of
the olden time; and its memories, as enduring as the 'Gardiner
ledges out over the hills.' May the eloquence of its occasion
awaken the Dumonts, the Spragues, the Otises, to listen to
words that stir men's and women's hearts; and the closing hour
of the day leave as resplendent associations as the glories of the
setting sun over 'Powder House Hill;' and the same old stars
set their night watch over the sleepers 'on the plains' and the
happy hearts that have been made glad with the old folks, and
the young folks, at home."
Charming descriptions of local scenery may be found in
Memory Street^ in The End of the Beginnings and in the prose
and poetry of many writers, but none that appeals more strongly
to the hearts of the lovers of Hallowell than the lines by Mrs.
Martha Baker Dunn, entitled
THE HIIvLS OF HALIvOWKLIy
A quiet city, half asleep,
Climbing the long slope of a hill,
And seeming ward and watch to keep
Above the river winding still,
While all around in verdure swell /
The fair, green hills of Hallowell. '
O happy hills! O pastures green!
What morning dreams your slopes have known !
What fairy visions I have seen
When every hillside was a throne!
Each path my childish feet knew well,
O'er those green hills of Hallowell,
344
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
How light those springing footsteps trod!
What joy throbbed in that pulsing heart!
The world was then new-born of God,
And sin and sorrow had no part.
What scenes, what hopes, your paths could tell,
Ye dear, lost hills of Hallowell!
My way-worn feet may climb one day,
The self-same slopes they trod of yore.
May linger on the rock-hewn way,
Yet I shall find there nevermore
Those thronging shapes that used to dwell
On those fair hills of Hallowell,
Oft when I read in Sacred Word,
"Unto the hills I lift mine eyes,"
I see the well-known outlines blurred
Once more against the evening skies;
I hear the Sabbath music swell
Across the hills of Hallowell.
I hear the glad old hymns once more,
Voices long silent join the lays ;
They echo from the viewless shore —
Ah me! Heaven needs no sweeter praise!
Fond memory weaves a loving spell
Round the dear hills of Hallowell.
And now the changing, ceaseless days
Rolling remorseless on, it seems
Twine a new halo round those ways,
More sacred than my morning dreams,
For dear feet climb — I know it well —
The sunset hills of Hallowell.
O faltering feet that were so strong,
I know what heights ye erst have trod,
Those quiet streets for you have long
Been pathways up the Hills of God!
Steadfast in sun and shade as well,
Ye climbed His hills of Hallowell!
O blessed hills! your rugged ways
Grow fair with Heaven's sunset lights.
Ye throng with saints of other days
Borne on to glory from your heights.
While soft the twilight breezes swell
O'er the dear hills of Hallowell.
L' Envoi
345
And thus, although Hallowell has not become a great and
grand metropolis, as our forefathers vainly prophesied, she
nevertheless sits enthroned upon her hillsides, rich in the
honorable records of her past history, in the eminent and useful
men and women whom she has sent into the world, in the names
inscribed upon her literary annals; in her churches, her schools,
her library, and her city buildings; in her noble and public-
spirited body-politic; in the loyalty and devotion of her children,
wherever they may be; and in the boundless measure of
affection that comes back to her after many days. This
inheritance is a permanent possession. The time-spirit of Old
Hallowell remains immutable; and whatever outward changes
the coming years may bring, here, in our midst.
"a voice shall be
That speaks for immortality."
INDEX
Abbot, George, 126.
Abbot, Mary Susan, 97.
Abbot Squire," 122; son of Jacob
and Lydia; m. Betsey Abbot,
123; children: Sallucia, Jacob,
John Stevens Cabot, Gorham
Dummer, Clara Ann, Charles
Edward, Samuel Phillips, 123.
Home life of, 123.
Abbott, Austin, 162.
Abbott, Edward, 123.
Abbott, Jacob, 124-125, 127; m.
Harriet Vaughan, 97, 124, 259 ;
children: Benjamin Vaughan,
Austin, Lyman, Edward, 125, 200.
Abbott, John S. C. 123, 125, 197;
reminiscences of his childhood,
123; at Bowdoin on the fiftieth
anniversary of his graduation,
126.
Abbott, Sallucia, 134, 135, 220.
Abenaki Indians, i, 2, 6, 7; char-
acter, customs, games, folk-
lore, etc., 8-1 1 ; village, 7;
women, 9.
Abenaki Ivullaby, 9.
Abenaki Story-teller, i.
Academy, Hallowell, incorpo-
rated, 55; public exhibition in
1796, 209; notable preceptors,
209-217; notable pupils, 209-
2TO.
Academy, Vaughan Female, 222-
224; founded by Rev. John
Apthorp Vaughan, 222; assisted
by Miss Mary Merrick, 222 ; list
of pupils, 222-223 '■> method of
instruction, 223 ; reunion in
1854, 224.
Actors, Boston Company of Come-
dians, 261.
Adlam, Rev. S., 206.
Agry Capt. George, m. Caroline
Hodges, 133; children: Adelaide,
(Mrs. A. B. Moulton), Caroline
Amelia, (Mrs. Wiley S. Ed-
mands), George, father of George
Jr., and Warren, 134.
Agry, Jack, 302-303.
Agry, Capt. John, m. Elizabeth
Reed, 132 ;
Agry, Capt. Thomas, m. ist Sally
Nye ; second Sally Hammet ; ist
daughter, (Mrs. Judge Kings-
bury), 2d. daughter, Martha,
(Mrs. William O. Vaughan), 324.
Aiken, Jesse, 138; m. Mary Fuller;
children: Eliza J., Edward,
Fuller, Augusta, (Mrs. William
J. Kilburn), 177.
Alcove, the, 221.
Alden, John, at Koussinok, 4.
Allen, Rev. Charles F., 263.
Allen, Dr. Frederick, 184 ; Mrs.
Charlotte Wales Allen, 184-185 ;
parents of Miss Clara Allen.
Allen, Rev. John, 49.
Allen, Hon. William, 211, 265.
American Advocate, 161, 254, 255;
Editor Gilman's enterprise, 254.
Andrews, Major Thomas H., 321-
322 ; m. ist, Martha Curtis, 185 ;
2d, Louise Farrell, 185 ; chil-
dren : William Henry, Elizabeth,
Martha (Mrs. Frank E. Mulli-
ken), Julia M.^ 185.
Annals of Warr^, Eaton's, 41.
Antislavery Agitation, first society,
officers, 164 ; Candidate for Presi-
dency, 168. Votes for, 168. Anti-
slavery sermon in the Unitarian
Church, 333.
Archbishop of the Philippines,
20T.
348
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Ariadne, the, 70.
Arnold, Benedict, at Fort Western,
27 ; oflScers of his regiment, 27.
Art Club, children's, 220-221.
Artillery, Hallowell, the, 334.
Asiminasqua, 7.
Assumption, Chapel of, 10, 12.
Atherton, Peter, 321.
Atkins, James, 177.
Augusta, 1797, 62.
Automobile, Hallowell's first, 330.
Ave et Vale, poem, 217-218.
Bailey, Rev. Jacob, 21, 46.
Baker, Henry Knox, son of Amos,
157-159 ; Di* Sarah Lord, 158-
159 ; children : Frances Weston,
Ellen, Annie, Harriet, Sanford,
Martha, 159.
Ballard, Mrs. 43.
Banks, Annie S., 182.
Banks, Mrs. Martha Gordon. 27.
Barnekoy, 200.
Barrett, Joseph, 186; Mrs. Joseph;
Oliver and Elizabeth, 311.
Beeman, John, Sr., 38, 184.
John, Jr., 183, Edith,
Katharine, Mrs. Sarah Carr, 183.
Belcher, Mr., the Handel of
Maine," 209.
Beldens, the, 303; Louisa, Jona-
than, 303-304.
Belle Savage, the, 70.
Bentham, Jeremy, 80.
Bequests to Library, 240-241.
Berry A., 335.
Berry, Mrs. Annie, 178.
Berry, Cascolene Hortense, 178,
Edward Williams, 178, Joseph,
178.
Black Book,hy Mrs. Anne Royall,
284.
Blish, Capt. James, 71.
•'Blue Stocking Club," poem,
269-270.
Bod well, Henry, 315.
Bodwell, Joseph and Mary How ;
315 ; ancestry of, 315.
Bodwell, Joseph R., 307, 316-318;
President of Hallowell Granite
Works, 316-317; Governor of
Maine, 317-318; death of, 317;
personal character, 318 ; burial
services, 318. Eunice Fox, 316 ;
Hannah C. Fox, 316 ; Joseph F.,
316 ; Persis Mary, 316.
Boies Antipas, 12.
Bombahook, i, 2.
Bond, Rev. Elias, 166, 199. Thomas,
Sr., 141; Thomas, Jr., 141-142 ;
m. Lucretia Page : children of,
141.
Books, old, 242-248.
Bowling Alley on Leonard estate,
179.
Brackett, J. B., 226.
Bradbury, James W., 269, 211,
342.
Bradford, Gov., 2, 3, 4.
Bradford, Rev. M., 208.
Bradstreet, Gov. Simon. Anne
Dudley, 160.
Brattle, Thomas, 12.
Brewster, Elder William, 167.
Bridge, Horatio, 287. Hon. James,
35-36.
Bridge, Kennebec, charter for, 57.
Brooks, Rev. Phillips, 287.
Brooks, T. B., 236, 287.
Brooks, William, 36.
Brown, Nathaniel, 179, Mary
(Parsons) 179. Lucia, 221.
Bryant, William Cullen, 258.
Burr, Aaron, 27.
Buck, Alfred E., 226, 227-228.
Buckminster, Rev. J. S., 282.
Bulfinch, Charles, architect, 193,
287. Ellen Susan, author of
Life and Letters of Charles
Bulfinch, 96 ; Thomas, author of
Index
349
the Age of Fable, 96; letter
from Madam Bulfinch, 272.
Buonaparte's Address to his sol-
diers, 251. Fall of, 256.
Burne-Jones, 275.
Burnham, Jonas, 203, 226.
Butler, Ellen Hamlin, author of
the poems Hallowell and The
Creating of the Book, 239-
240.
Calvert, Richard, 179.
Candidates for the Hallowell Pul-
pit, 45-
Carr, Capt. George, 320.
Cathedral at Manilla, 201.
Chace, Charles B., preceptor of
Hallowell Academy, 216.
Chadwick, Cordelia, 313-314, Sam-
uel, 313.
Characters, romantic, quaint, and
interesting, 290-306.
Charter, City the, adopted, 338.
Cheever, Elizabeth, 134 ; Rev.
George, 1 19-12 1 ; Rev. Henry
T., 121-122; Nathaniel 38,118-
121, 254.
Chessman, Rev. D., 206, 286.
Chester Plantation, 194 ; Congre-
gational church of.
"Chief Citizens," Hallowell's, 307-
3^8.
Child, Jonas, 36, 182.
Churches of Hallowell, Baptist,
206 ; Methodist, 206; Old South,
194-206; Unitarian, 207; Uni-
versalist, 206.
Church of the Mediator, Phila-
delphia, 97.
Church, Samuel, 36.
City Hall, dedication of, 339.
Civic Virtue, oration by Prof.
Charles F. Richardson, 339.
Clark, Elizabeth, 222.
Clark, Isaac and Alice, 154.
Clark, Maria, 342.
Clark, Pease, Deacon, 16-18, 21, 24;
Father of Hallowell, 342 ; Peter,
17.
Clark, Hon. William, 154; m.
Elizabeth Morse, 154; children,
William Henry, Charlotte, (Mrs.
George S. Peters), Elizabeth,
Mary, 154.
Cogswell, Nathaniel, 64, 65.
Colcord, Mrs. Carrie Titcomb, 324;
Nathaniel 39.
Cole, Rev. J., 173, 207, 336.
Collins, Delia E., 171.
Cony, Daniel, Judge, 29, 30, 31, 61,
279.
Cony, Mrs. Susanna, 276
Cony, Dea. Samuel, 29, 33; Lieut.
Samuel, 29.
Cooper, Henry, 324; James, 324;
lylewellyn, m. Elizabeth An-
drews, 326 ; children : lylewellyn,
James, Thomas, 327.
Cooper, James Fenimore, 258.
Cope, John Edmund, 105.
Costumes of the period, 41-42.
Court-house, erected, 55.
Court, Supreme Judicial ; sessions
of, 55-56.
Cowan, Ephraim, 18.
Cox (or Cocks) James, son of Capt.
James, 19, 22, 23. Gershom, m.
Sarah Hussey ; sons : Comfort
Smith, Arthur, William Henry,
James v., G. Ivcander, 323. Com-
fort Smith, m. Abigail Smiley;
children : Saijah H., Mary Cora,
Barrett, and Elizabeth A., 323.
Craig, Elias, 36.
Cripps, Ivize, 305-306.
Crosby, George, 36.
Curtis, Rev. Jonathan, 312.
Curtis, Thomas W. T., 312, Mrs.
Virginia Hubbard, 312, 313, 314;
350
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
children: John Hubbard, 312,
Thomas Hamlin, 312, Clarine
Wells, (Mrs. Thomas Hamlin
Curtis) 312.
Currier, A. C, 237; Alger V., 186.
Cutler, John L., 279.
Davenport, Abram, 194 ; Benjamin,
182; Jonathan, 19, 21, 22, 23;
Thomas, 323 ; Nathaniel, S.
Franklin, Ralph, 324.
Davenport, Mrs. Nathaniel, 342.
Davis, Benjamin, Nathan, Daniel,
176.
Day, Franklin A., 259, m. Hannah
Squire, 175. Jerome, 182. Frank,
Joe, Preston, Lizzie, 175.
Deacon Giles Distillery, by Rev.
George Cheever, 1 20-121.
Dearborn, Capt. Benjamin, 168.
Dearborn, Capt. George, 322 ;
Capt. Henry, 322.
Dearborn, Henry, 27.
Decker, Mrs. Elizabeth, 260 ;
daughters, 260.
De Grand, Plutarch Bonaparte, 305.
De La Croix, Madame, 165, 223.
Derby, Mrs. Richard, 282.
Division of the town, 55, 57, 58, 61.
Dole, Mrs. Caroline Fletcher, 223,
224.
Dole, Dea. Bbenezer, m. Hannah
Balch; children, 164. Daniel
N., 165; Eben G., 166; fam-
ily, 166; Henry L., 166.
Drew, William, 39 ; Allen, 260 ;
Capt. John F., 325.
Druillettes, 4, 10, 11.
Dudley, Gov. Thomas, 115.
Dumaresq, James, 279-280 ; The
'* Beauty of the Kennebec," 279.
Dummer, Almira, 186 ; Charles,
186, Nathaniel, 38, 107-109, 162 ;
Mary Kilton Dummer, 107-109 ;
children, 108.
Dumont, John P., 139, 333.
Dunn, Mrs. Martha Baker, 159,
239, 343-
Dutton, Samuel, 38.
Eastern Star, the, 56, 249.
Eastman, Mrs. Charlotte Sewall,
135-
Echlin, Lord, 295-296.
Eliot, George, 135.
Elliott, C. L., Portrait painter, 105.
Emerson, Ezekiel, 53.
Emmons, Rev. Nathaniel, 151.
Judge Williams, 151-153;
family, 151-153-
Rev. Henry Vaughan,
153 ; family, 153.
• Lucy Vaughan, 153.
End of the Beginning, novel by
Prof. Charles F. Richardson,
293> 343-
Enterprise, the, 70.
Evans, Daniel, 39.
Evans, Hon. George, 287-288, 329.
Everett, Rev. C. C, 206-207.
Every-day Life of the Period, 40-44.
Figures of the Past, extract, from
186.
Firemen's department; The "Lion"
and the "Tiger," 334.
Flagg, John P., 186; Mrs. Mary
Flagg, 105.
Floral Procession, 336-337.
Forster, Rev. Isaac, 52.
Fort and Hook, Men of, 25-39.
Fort Western, 3, 16, 18, 29.
Franklin, Benjamin, 79, Memoir of,
86.
Freeman, John, Edward, Samuel,
Ebenezer, 176 ; Mrs. Caroline
Page Freeman, 176, 226. Carrie
E., 247.
Free Masons, Kennebec Lodge, 333.
Index
351
French, Josiah, 18; Jolin L., 176;
family, 176.
Fugitive Slaves, 167, 168.
Fuller, Rev. Caleb, 206 ; Eben, 32 ;
Eliza Williams, 32, 276 ; Fred-
erick A., 32; George, 182;
Chief Justice Melville W., 33;
Hon. J. Warren, 197.
Fuller, Hiram, 179 ; family, 179.
Gardiner, D. 1^.; sons, 182.
Gardiner, Frederick, 93 ; John ,
337 ; Rev. John Silvester
John, 282; Robert Hallowell,
93, 281, 288; Sylvester (or
Silvester) Gardiner, 18, 36, 281.
Garnet, Rev. H. H., 167.
Getchell, Everett T., 240.
Gillet, Rev. Eliphalet, installed
1796, 57, 196-198. Called the
" Addison of Maine," 197.
Gilley, John, 19 ; Gilley's point,
19.
Gilman, Eliphalet, 38, Gideon, 198.
Gilman, Hon, Gorham. Letter
from, 343.
John, 163.
Samuel K., 163.
Gilman, Judge Samuel K., 160-
163 ; ancestry of, 160 ; family :
160-163.
Gilman, Sophia B., 163, 238, no,
236, 238.
Girls' Industrial School, 186.
Glazier, Franklin, 247 ; family: 247.
Glazier, William Belcher, 156, 247,
263, 336 ; Franklin, 247.
Goodale, Ezekiel, 246, 255.
Goodwin, Daniel Raynes, D. D.
94, 212-214; preceptor of Hal-
lowell Academy, 212 ; Memoir
of, 213-214 ; Mrs. Mary Merrick
Goodwin, 213; children: Anna
H., Mary, Harold, 213 ; family
life, 213.
Gow, Dea. James, 199.
Greeley, Moses, 19; Seth, 19.
Gurley, Mary, 197.
Hains, John, 38.
Haines, Major William, 183.
Hallowell, ancient records, 13 ; in-
corporation of, 21 ; division of,
57, 61; name of, 21; first town
meeting, 22; list of officers, 22;
early settlers, 18, 19; sources of
prosperity, 67.
Hallowell Artillery, 334; lyight
Infantry, 168, 334; Independent
Lancers, 172.
Hallowell, Benjamin, 18, 36, 281 ;
Briggs, 38; Robert, 281;
Sarah, 75; William, 281.
Hallowell Gazette, 172, 255-257.
Hallowell House, 172, 173,
Hamlin, Theophilus, sons of, 36.
Hancock, Governor, 208.
Hard Cider Campaign, 332.
Harrington, 61.
Harris, Deacon Obadiah, 194.
Harvard College, entrance require-
ments, 45.
Haskell, Master, 225.
Hathaway, 177.
Hawthorne, 287.
Hazlitt, Rev. William, 50-52, 225.
Henry Reed, the, 321-322.
Hill, Dr. H. H., 330.
Hills of Hallowell, poem by Martha
Baker Dunn, 343, 344.
Hinckley, Shubael, Thomas, 38.
Histoire des Abenakis, 4.
Hospitalities, interchange of, on
the Kennebeci 268-281.
Howard, Rev. H. R., 247 ;
Captain James, 16, 18, 23,
26, 28.
Howard, John, 20, 28;
Col. Samuel, 20, 28; chil-
dren of, 28.
William, 20, 28;
352
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Howland, Jolin, agent of Kennebec
trading-post, 4.
Hubbard, William, 307.
Dr. John, Sr., 307.
Dr. John, Jr., 307-311,
312 ; professional life,
308, 309 ; Governor of
Maine, 309, 310; Recep-
tion at the Hallowell
House, 310; Mrs. Sarah
Barrett Hubbard, 311 ;
family life, 312 ; Mrs.
Virginia Hubbard Cur-
tis, 312; Miss Emma
Hubbard, 312.
Hubbard, Capt. John, 313; his
death at Port Hudson, 313.
Hubbard, General Thomas H.,
314 ; benefactor of Bowdoin Col-
lege and the Hubbard Free Lib-
rary, 314; family of, 314. Hub-
bard homestead in Hallowell,
314, 315.
Hunt, Mrs. Anna Sargent, author
of Reunion Poem, 339.
Huntington, Samuel W., family of,
168, 169.
Simon and Margaret
Baret, 169.
Jimmy the Bugler, 296-298.
Johnson, Mark, family of, 182.
Joy, Hiram; daughter Caroline,
179, 180.
Judd, Rev. Sylvester, 279.
Judson, Rev. Adoniram, 53.
Kaler, the Wizard, 290, 291.
Kempton, ship-builder, 321.
Kendall, William, 303.
Kennebec Benevolent Union, 334.
Kennebec bridge; Company incor-
porated, 61.
Kennebec or Plymouth Company, 1 2 .
Kennebec Patent, 12.
Kennebec Railroad, 161.
"Kennebecker," «f7w de plume oi
Captain John F. Drew, 325.
Kennebecker, the, edited by Henry
K. Baker, 257, 258.
Kent, Nathaniel, 65.
Kilburn, William J., 177.
Kilton, Maiy, 109; Kilton, Sarah,
109, no.
Kimball, Mrs. Elizabeth Dole, 259.
Kimball, Captain Nathaniel, 328.
King Philip's War, 12.
Kingsbury, Captain S. A., 172.
Kingsbury, Judge, 324.
Kinne, William, 211.
Lakeman, Thomas, descendants of,
Indian Queen, schooner, 70. jgQ
Industry, sloop, 40. Lamb, Charles, 305.
Ingraham, Sir Arthur, 127. Lambard, Allen, Barnabas, Thomas,
Beriah, 36; James M., ^5
127; Jeremiah, 36; i^aughton, Thomas and Molly;
Rev. Joseph Holt, 127- gaily, 168.
129, 293; author of The i^aurens, Henry, John, 79.
Prince of the House of lawyers of Hallowell, 136-159.
David, etc. Lebell, Monsieur, 89.
Intelligencer, the, extract from, 60. Lee, Jesse, 206.
Lewes, Mrs. (George Eliot), 135.
Jay, John, 79, 80. Libraries of Hallowell, 229-241.
/^r^<?j, the; British prison-ship, 168. The Vaughan Library, 229-230;
Jewett, Thomas G., 28. Vaughan library for children,
Jewett, Rev, Caleb, 49. 230 ; the Otis library, collection
Index
353
of rare old books, 231-234; library
of the Franklin Debating Soci-
ety* 235 ; of the Kennebec Lib-
rary Society; of the Young
Men's Society, 235 ; Goodale's
Circulating Library, 235 ; Hal-
lowell Social Library, 236-238 ;
Hubbard Free Library, 238-241.
Light Infantry, Hallowell, the,
172, 334.
Lights and Shadows of the Past, by
Rev. J. H. Ingraham, 198.
Lincoln, Laban, 175; Rodney G.,
167, 337; children of, 175.
Lithgow, General William, Jr., 34 ;
Captain William, 34; Robert, 34;
Colonel Arthur, 35; James Noble,
35; Llewellyn W., 35.
Littlefield, Seth, 176 ; descendants
of, 176.
Livermore, Jason 38, 194 ; Colonel
Danf orth P. , publisher and teleg-
rapher, 173, 246, 248; Miss
Emma Livermore, expert teleg-
rapher and accomplished musi-
cian, 248, 249.
Locke, Master Samuel, 225, 259.
Log-Cabin, Whig club-house in
1840, 332.
Longfellow, with his classmates at
Bowdoin, in 1875, 126.
Lord, Augustine, 335 ; Philip, 39.
Louisiana, Sketches of, by Amos
Stoddard, 137.
Louis Philippe in Hallowell,
story of, 96, 283-284.
Lovejoy, Rev. Joseph C, 166, 168,
171, 173, 174, Preceptor of Hal-
lowell Academy, 212 ; leader in
temperance and antislavery
movements, 1 71-174. His descen-
dants, 174.
Lowell, Eliza Clark, 24, 239, 339.
Lyceum, the Hallowell, 262-264;
eminent lecturers, 263.
Mail route from Hallowell to Port-
land in 1774, 56.
Maine Missionary Society organ-
ized, 1807, 197.
Man of Ice, the, 293-295.
Mann, Dr. Ariel, 188.
Manning, Corporal, 299, 300.
Manning, William, father of Mrs.
Sarah Manning Vaughan; Wil-
liam, Jr., Governor of the Bank
of England; Cardinal Manning,
78.
Martin, Alfred and Lydia, Julia
Cascolene, 177.
Martin, Mrs. Persis Bodwell, 316.
Massena, General, at Milan, 251.
Masters, Colonel Andrew, 247-248.
Mather, Rev. Cotton, 193.
Matthews, William, 38.
Maurault, 4.
Mayo, Ebenezer, shipbuilder, 38,
70; Captain Ephriam, 168; Rev.
John, Puritan divine, 167.
McClench, George B., 330.
McMaster, William, 194.
Means, Mark, 182.
Meeting-house Beggar, the, by Rev.
J. H. Ingraham, 292, 293.
Meeting-house built at the Fort,"
49.
Meeting-house, Old South, 193-207.
Mellen, Chief Justice, 104, 113.
Melvin, Alonzo, 248.
Memory Street, by Mrs. Martha
Baker Dunn, 343.
" Men of the Dawn," 2, II.
Men of the Fort and Hook, 25-39.
Merchants in 179^, 64, 65.
Merrick, John, E^q., 38, 99-106, 200 ;
character, 99, 103 ; memoir of, 99 ;
ancestry, 100; education, 100;
expedition to Quebec, 101-103 J
tribute to, 104-105 ; family, 105 ;
residence of, 106 ; octagon parlor,
124.
354
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Merrick, William H., 105, 148;
Samuel, of Ivondon, 100 ; Samuel
Vaughan, 105, 209 ; children of,
105 ; Thomas Belsham Merrick,
105, 209, 340 ; children of, 105.
Merrill, Ambrose, 177, 321, 335;
Kllen, 177.
Miles, Rev. Mr., 207.
Militia, Colonel Vaughan's Reg-
iment, 92.
Miller, Rev. D. B., 339.
Montezuma, the, 60.
Moody, Nathan, 130; Miss Mary,
130, 135, 204 ; Paul and Mary of
Byfield, 129 ; Preceptor Samuel,
129; anecdote of, 21 0-21 1 ; his
family and descendants, 129-130.
Morgan, Charles B., 105.
Morgan, Old Squire, 298, 299.
Morse, Rev. Charles, 206.
Morse, William, Jr., 38.
Morton, A. B., Philander, Frank-
lin J., Priscilia B., 183.
Morton, Mrs. Caroline Joy; J.
Stirling, Charles, Joy, Paul,
Mark, 180.
Mulliken, Frank B., 185.
Murray, Rev. John, 47.
Museum, lyowell, dedication of,
239-
Music in Hallowell, 259-261 ; Har-
monic Society, 260; oratorios,
261; Old South choir, 200-202,
260 ; Universalist choir, 260.
Nash, Captain Charles B., 249.
Nason, Arthur Huntington, 170;
Bartholemew, 171; Charles H,,
170; Bdward, 171; Bdwin F.,
170; Bmma Huntington, 170, 238;
Frederick B., 170 ; Joseph Frost,
170 ; Margaret, 171 ; Mary Welch,
170; Richard of Bngland,
170; Richard of Kittery, 170.
Natahanada, 5, 6.
Newspapers, Eastern Star, 249 ;
Tocsin, 250-257 ; American Advo-
cate, 254-255 ; Hallowell Gazette,
255-257; Intelligencer, 59; Ken-
nebecker, 257, 258; Maine Culti-
vator and Weekly Gazette, 258 ;
Liberty Standard, 175.
Ney, nephew of Marshal Ney, 284.
Nidoba, Indian custom, 7.
Noble, Rev. Seth, 50.
Norris, James, 38,
North, Hon. James W., 32 ; Captain
John; Joseph, 32; Madame
North, 276, 283.
North Bastern Boundary, 148.
Nourse, Dr. Amos, 171, 188.
Nye, Ansel, Blisha, 38; Stephen,
William, 177.
Nye, J. Bdwin, 177.
Nye, General George, 177.
Observations . on the Conduct of
Different Governments, 253.
Odlin, Deacon John, John, 114.
Old Books and Newspapers, 242-258.
Old Grimes is dead," 255.
Old South Church, 193-207 ; His-
torical Sketch of, 202 ; Meeting-
house erected, 1796, 57 ; members
of, 198, 199 ; bell-tower, 195, 203 ;
choir, 199-202; tribute to, by
John Drew ; bell made by Paul
Revere and Son, Old South
Clock, 202.
Old South Church, poem, by
Mary B. Moody, 204-205.
Old South, organized 1790, 193;
Sunday School, 191; church des-
troyed by fire, 203, 204.
Ordinations of the period, 53.
Otis, Hon. John, 93, 277 ; his family,
148 ; member of the United States.
Boundary Commission, 148 ; Uni-
ted States Senator, 149 ; personal
character and family life ; letter-
Index
355
from General O. O. Howard, 149,
150; Otis lyibrary, 231-234.
Otis, Oliver and Betsey, 147.
Paddy, William, 6.
Page, Aaron, 38.
Page, Annie F., author of His-
torical Sketch of Old South
Church, 49, 191, 192.
Page, Dr. Benjamin, Sr., 114;
ancestry, 115; children of, 115.
Page, Dr. Benjamin, Jr., 38, 64,
115-117,191,284; character and
professional life, 115-116; Abi-
gail Cutler, 116; children, 117.
Page, Mrs. Caroline Freeman, 226,
247-
Page, David, 175 ; children of, 176.
Page, Bzekiel, 19; Kzekiel, Jr., 19.
Page, John Odlin, 64, no, 117,
201, 259; Sarah Kilton, 117;
children, 117.
Page, Rufus K., first mayor of Hal-
lo well, 321; ship-builder and
steamboat owner, 117, 118, 320,
321, 328; Caroline Hull, 118;
Martha Howard, 118; children,
118.
Page, Simon, 190-192; Mayor of
Hallowell, 190; character and life-
work, 190-191 ; Mrs. Fraziette
Page, tribute to, 191-192; child-
ren: Julia, (Mrs. Henry Samp-
son), Annie F., Benjamin, 191;
glimpse of the Page home, 192.
Paine, Henry W., 155-156; Jennie
Warren, 156, 215 ; Lucy Coffin,
155-
Paine, Rev. Jotham, 316; Persis
Bodwell, 316 ; Charles Bodwell,
316.
Parker, the Ciceronian, 282.
Parkman, Dr. Samuel, 94.
Parsons, the junk-dealer, 305.
Parsons, Theophilus, 138, 282.
Patent, granted to Plymouth Col-
ony, II, 12.
Patterson, Captain James, 29.
Peabody, Elizabeth, 269; author of
the Blue Stocking Club, 269, 270,
271.
Perley, Caroline A., 226.
Perley, Hon. Nathaniel, 39, 136,
137, 138, 198, 334; tribute to, 138.
MaryDummer, 139; Louisa, (Mrs.
John P. Dumont), 139.
Perley, Jeremiah, 331.
Pettengill, Deacon Benjamin, 194;
Daniel, 52.
Political Crisis, The, by Amos
Stoddard, 137.
Pollard, Amos, 36; Pollard's tav-
ern, 43.
Powder House Hill, 15.
Phebe, the, 59.
Phenix, the, 59.
Philbrook, Job, 18; Jonathan, 18.
Pierce, E). G., ship-builder, 320, 321.
Pilgrim Fathers, 2 ; on the Kenne-
bec, 5, 13.
Pillar of Fire , 128.
Pilsbury, Isaac, 69.
" Pisgah," 49.
Pitt, 80.
Plymouth merchants, 2, 3 ; trading-
post on the Kennebec, 3, 4.
Plymouth proprietors on the Ken-
nebec, 12.
Pratt, Miss Mary, 305.
Prence, Governor Thomas, 5, 167.
Prescott, Benjamin, 38.
Primrose, the, 70.
Prince, John, 49. 1
Prince of the Houjse of David, The^
1,28.
Public Interests, 331-345-
Publishing Business, 254-258.
Putnam, the Inventor, 304.
Queen of Sheba, 298.
Quincy, Josiah, 186, 187.
356
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Randall, D. B., 206.
Randall, Robert, 65, 194.
Rapid, the, 70.
Raymond, William Henry, 174;
Anna Louise Ivovejoy, 174; chil-
dren of, 174.
Reception at Vaughan mansion,
1899, 340, 342.
Red Histories, 125.
Reed, Henry, 321, 335.
Reed, Mrs. Jean Murray, 47.
Religious Services, 1771-1797, 44-54.
Representative Families, 107-135,
160-192.
Revere, Paul, and Son, letter
from, 195.
Rice, Colonel E. E., 337.
Rice, Hon. Richard D., 164, 175,
330.
Rice, John, 198.
Richardson, Professor Charles F.,
189, 239-241, 293,339; his literary
works, 189.
Richardson, Dr. M. C, 188-189;
family of, 189.
Richmofidy the John W., 328.
Robbins, Hon. Chandler, 38, 132,
268, 283; son of, entertained in
Paris by Talleyrand, 283.
Roberson, Miss Margaret, mantua
maker, 65.
Rollins, Elbridge, 138, 182.
RoUo Books, 125.
Rowell, Major E., 173, 258, 320;
George S., 320.
Royall, Mrs. Anne, 284-287.
Author of the Black Book, 284.
Ruby, the, 70.
Rural Socrates, the, 86.
Ruttkay, Louis, 171.
Sailing Vessels, 321.
Safford, Mayor George, 339.
Salisbury, Miss Polly, 221.
Sampson, George, 105.
Sampson, Henry, 240.
Savage, Daniel, 19, 20; Edward,
19, 20, 50.
Schools of Hallowell, 208-228.
Hallowell Academy, 208-218; pri-
vate schools, Madame Bills', 218;
Mrs. Boardman's, 220; Mrs.
Remington's, 219, 220; Miss Polly
Salisbury's, 221. Public schools,
224-228. Vaughan Female Acad-
emy, 222-224.
Schools, Public, first appropriation
by the town, 1797; town school
described by "Senex;" Master
Haskell, 225; Master John Sewall,
225; Master Samuel Locke, 225,
226. Grammar School, 226 ; Mas-
ters, D. H. Goodno, Albert
Thomas, J. B. Brackett, 226.
High School, 226-228; Masters,
Jonas Burnham, 227; W. H. Sea-
vey, 227; Alfred E. Buck, 227,
228. New High School, 228.
Classical School, 228.
Seavey, W. H., 226.
Separation of Maine from Massa-
chusetts, 331. Part taken by men
of Hallowell, 331 ; Digest of the
Debates of the Convention for
forming a Constitution for the
State of Maine, by Jeremiah Per-
ley, 331; committee to prepare
circular letter, 331 ; opinion of
Ex-President Adams on the
subject, 332.
Settlers, the first, 15-24.
Sewall, David, 38 ; General Henry,
33, 44, 52, 194; Jonathan, 194;
John, 38, 199, 225; Moses, 194;
Dr. Stephen B., 113; Thomas, 33.
Sheba, Queen of, 298.
Sheppard, Captain John, 110-112;
Sarah Collier, no; children, in ;
old red house, in; social life,
III, 112; literary culture, in;
death at Point Petre, 112.
Index
357
Sheppard, Hon. John H., 89, iio-
113; personal characteristics,
and literary work, 11 3-1 14;
children, 113; descendants, 114.
Tribute to Dr. Benjamin
Vaughan, 87-89.
Sherburne, James, 182.
Sheridan, 80.
Shipping and Ship-masters, 319-
331-
Simmons, Captain Daniel, 182.
Small, Master, ship-builder, 321.
Smith, Amos, 247 ; Rev. Eliphalet,
53; Frederick B., 247; Dr. De
Wolfe, 185; George R., 342;
Captain Isaac, 71; Justin B.,
247; Robert, 185; "Old Doctor,"
305; Captain Samuel, 319;
Stevens, 174.
Smoking Pine, The, poem, 340,
341.
Social Ivife, from 1771 to 1797, 43;
later period, 265-289 ; tributes by-
William Allen, Esq., Hon. John
H. Sheppard, and John Ward
Dean, 265 ; social life described
by Rev. John H. Ingraham,
John H. Sheppard, John S. C.
Abbott; life at "Sunset Farm,"
described by Madame Bulfinch,
272-273; entertainment for chil-
dren, 273 ; splendid ball given
by Miss Anne Warren, 273, 274;
dinner-party given by Hon.
Reuel Williams, 278, 279 ; inter-
change of hospitalities on the
Kennebec, 275-281; famous
guests, 281-289.
South worth, Captain, agent at
Kennebec trading-post, 5.
Spaulding, Calvin, 177.
Spotted Fever, 87, 116.
Sprague, Judge Peleg, 142-145;
United States senator, 144;
Judge of District Court of the
United States, 145 ; grand ovation
at Hallowell, 144.
Sprague, poet, 258; William, 247.
Stage Journey from Boston to New
York, 187.
Stickney, Paul, 167, 201, 259.
Stickney, William, 130, 167; family
of, 167.
Stinson, Mrs. Helen Page, 114;
Clara, 114; David G., 114; Harry,
114.
Stoddard, Amos, first lawyer in
Hallowell, 35, 38, 61, 136, 137.
Stone, Rev. Mr., 54.
Story, Judge, 186, 187.
"String-Beaners," 334.
Stringer, Johnny, 301, 302.
Sullivan, Attorney General, 56.
Sumner, Judge, 55.
Supper Table, Miss Anne Warren's,
274, 275.
Supreme Judicial Court in Hal-
lowell, 55.
Sweat, Samuel, 194.
Talleyrand in Hallowell, 96, 283.
Tappan, Rev. Benjamin, 153.
Telegraphy, 248.
Temperance Movement, 171.
Tenney, Alonzo, 181; children, 181 ;
Hon. Ben, 246, 339.
Tenney, Samuel, 199, 181.
Theatre in Hallowell, 261.
Thomas, Daniel, 19; Edward A.,
178. Prof. Arthur M., 339.
Thompson, George, English eman-
cipationist, 164.
Throne of David, the, 128.
Thunder-Jug, the/, 336.
Thurston, Rev. Eli, 196, 201, 202.
"Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," 332.
Titcomb, Captain, 324; children
Walter, naval officer; Dr. Arthur;
Carrie E.; 324.
Titcomb, Samuel, 36.
358
Old Hallowell on the Kennebec
Tocsin, the, 56, 59, 209, 250-254.
Town ojB&cers of 1798, 62, 63.
Trafton, Rev. Mark, 206.
Travel, methods of, 44, 328-330.
Two Brothers, sloop, 40.
Tyng, Edward, 12.
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 287, 329.
*'Van Ho," 292,
Vaughan Family, 73-98.
Vaughan, Benjamin, 36; Memoir of,
76; education, 77; early life and
marriage to Miss Sarah Manning,
78; political career, 79; member
of Parliament, 80; removal to
this country, 81; residence at
Hallowell, 83-85 ; celebrated
guests, 282-284; scholar, author,
and physician, 86; personal char-
acteristics, 87-89 ; death, 89; fam-
ily, and descendants, 89-94.
Vaughan, Benjamin, 97-98; chil-
dren. Bertha Hallowell, 94 ;
Henry Goodwin, 94, 106.
Vaughan, Charles, Ksq., 94-97;
early settler, at Hallowell, pro-
moter of commerce, agriculture,
and the educational and religious
interests of the town, 95; farm
and gardens, 95; residence, 96;
Mrs. Frances Apthorp Vaughan,
96; children, 96, 97.
Vaughan, Charles, Jr., 97; 236, 237.
Vaughan, Rev. John Apthorp, 96,
97, 105; founder and principal
of Vaughan Female Academy,
222-224 ; rector of Church of the
Mediator, 224,
Vaughan, William of London, 76,
77 ; extract from memoir of, 76,
77-
Vaughan, William Oliver, 91, 92 ;
William Manning, 93; William
Warren, 97, 98; children of Wil-
liam Warren: Mary Kliot and
Samuel, 94.
Vaughan, Samuel, 74; ancestry of,
74; Mrs. Sarah Hallowell
Vaughan, 75; children, 75.
Vaughan Memorial Bridge, 98.
Wales, Benjamin, 184, 327; family
of, 184; Wales mansion, 184, 327.
Warner, B. F., 182.
Warren, Hon. Kbenezer T., 93,
145 ; Warren mansion, 146.
Washington, chimney-piece pre-
sented to, 75, 76; message of,
252.
Washingtonians, the young, 257.
Waterhouse, Francis, 215, 216.
Watts, Captain Samuel, sons Sam-
uel, Kdward, Lawson, 324;
Helen, (Mrs. Samuel Glazier),
324. .
Webster, Daniel, at Hallowell, 288.
Weld, Dr., 305
Wells, Captain Charles, 327, 328;
family, 327.
Wells, Governor Samuel, 315;
William, 89.
West, Captain Shubael, 70, 324.
Weston, Captain Nathan, 32 ;
Judge Nathan, 32, 53.
Wharves of Hallowell, 70, 71.
White, Greenlief, 177, 178; Mrs.
Julia Cascolene White, 177, 178;
children, 178.
Whiting, Rev. Thurston, 49.
Wilberforce, 80.
Wilde, Samuel Sumner, Judge of
the Supreme Court, 1 39-141, 198.
Tribute by Chief Justice Shaw,
139; family life, 140; children,
140; residence notable for its
architectural beauty, 140.
Willett, Captain Thomas, 5.
Willey, Rev. Austin, 175.
Williams, Judge Daniel, 31 ; fam-
ily, 31 ; Kiiza, 32, 276.
Mrs. Daniel Williams, 277.
Williams, Lord of Ribour, 31.
Index
359
Williams, Hon. Reuel, 31; family,
31 ; public service, 31 ; President
Polk and James Buchanan enter-
tained at the Williams mansion,
278; octagon room, 277; dinner-
party described by Hon. Joseph
H. Williams, 278, 279.
Williams, Seth, 31; Zilpha Ingra-
ham, 31; hospitality of , 276.
Willis, Dr., 141; his tributes to
Thomas Bond, 141; to Peleg
Sprague, 143, 144.
Wingate, 130,131; Joshua, 130;
Joseph, 130; their descendants,
131.
Winslow, Kdward, founder of the
Plymouth trading-post, 2, 4, 5.
Winslow, John, agent at the trading
post, 5, 12.
Withington, James, 214,215; Al-
freda B., M. D., 215; Augustus
H., 215.
Wood, Betsey, poem, by ''Pal-
myra," 253-254.
Woodbridge, Rev. John, 115.
Woodman, Preceptor, 208.
Yeaton, Caroline, 226.
Yeaton, John, 169; family, 181;
Phineas, 176, 199.
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I